Jon Hammhttp://www.businessinsider.com/category/jon-hamm
en-usSun, 02 Aug 2015 16:36:58 -0400Sun, 02 Aug 2015 16:36:58 -0400The latest news on Jon Hamm from Business Insiderhttp://static3.businessinsider.com/assets/images/bilogo-250x36-wide-rev.pngBusiness Insiderhttp://www.businessinsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/emmy-nominations-predictions-questions-2015-76 burning questions ahead of tomorrow's Emmy nominationshttp://www.businessinsider.com/emmy-nominations-predictions-questions-2015-7
Wed, 15 Jul 2015 16:31:00 -0400Jethro Nededog
<p>This isn't just any year for TV.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Diversity is rising. An Amazon series, "Transparent," is the drama front runner. Several Emmy darlings have ended their runs. And the TV Academy has put its foot down on the comedy vs. drama question.</p>
<p>All of those factors and more are contributing to a heated Emmy race.</p>
<p><strong>Here are six burning questions Emmy voters will tackle in 2015:</strong></p>
<p><strong>1.) How will "Orange Is the New Black" fare in the drama category?</strong></p>
<p><strong><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/55a6b92b371d22a40e8b68cb-1200-600/orange-is-the-new-blck.jpg" alt="orange is the new black" data-mce-source="JoJo Whilden/Netflix" /></strong>In recent years, the drama category has become the most competitive group for awards. So, many shows that seemed like dramas entered themselves in the easier comedy category. The TV Academy put an end to some of that when it ruled that one-hour shows had to enter the drama category. Petitions were filed for shows that felt they should still be recognized as comedies and "Orange Is the New Black's" was denied. Any one who has watched the series would agree the show should be honored, but will it still get the nomination&nbsp;as part of&nbsp;the tougher drama category?</p>
<p><strong>2.) Will Jon Hamm finally get an Emmy for "Mad Men"?</strong></p>
<p><strong><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/55a6b9b52acae7c23f8b4795-2040-1020/mad-men-series finale-ratings.jpg" alt="mad men series finale ratings" data-mce-source="AMC" data-mce-caption="Don Draper (Jon Hamm) contemplates his life on the " /></strong>With the recent end of&nbsp;"Mad Men." the huge critical and fan response to the series finale, and the viral reaction to the show's Coke commercial tie-in, isn't it time for&nbsp;Jon Hamm's excellent portrayal of Don Draper to be honored? Certainly, it's supposed to be an honor to just be nominated, but Jon Hamm's seven Emmy noms and zero wins is bordering on insulting. This may be the TV Academy's last chance to honor Hamm's in the iconic role.</p>
<p><strong>3.) Can broadcast TV break&nbsp;back into the drama category?</strong></p>
<p><strong><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/55a6b9db2acae7c23f8b4796-2000-1000/fox empire season 2 details.jpg" alt="fox empire season 2 details" data-mce-source="Fox" data-mce-caption="Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard star on Fox's " /></strong>The onslaught of cable and now Netflix and Amazon have become insurmountable challenges to broadcast TV's chances of winning an Emmy in the drama category since "24" won in 2006. Plus,&nbsp;not one broadcast series has been nominated in the drama category since "The Good Wife" in 2011. Yes, the category is competitive (see No. 1 above), but certainly this year broadcast may have a chance with "Empire," the most successful drama&nbsp;of the past year, or "The Good Wife" breaking back through. Otherwise, things are looking dire for broadcast dramas.</p>
<p><strong>4.) Has Robin Wright finally earned her Emmy?</strong></p>
<p><strong><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/55a6ba072acae719008b6ef0-3000-1500/house-of-cards-season-3-robin-wright-brunette.jpg" alt="house of cards season 3 robin wright brunette" data-mce-source="David Giesbrecht for Netflix" /></strong><br />The third season of "House of Cards" has arguably been Robin Wright's time to shine as Claire Underwood "Hillary Clinton'd" herself from Frank Underwood's (Kevin Spacey) shadow. Nominated twice already with no wins, this year is the perfect one to give her the gold. That said, history may not be on Wright's side. See No. 5 below.</p>
<p><strong>5.) Will a black woman win the lead drama actress&nbsp;Emmy?</strong></p>
<p><strong><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/55a6ba5d2acae7f4028b6f85-1200-600/abc how to get away with murder viola davis takes off her wig.jpg" alt="abc how to get away with murder viola davis takes off her wig" data-mce-source="ABC" data-mce-caption="Viola Davis removes her wig and makeup in an unforgettable " /></strong>A black woman has never won the lead drama actress category. In 2013, Kerry Washington was the first to even be nominated in 18 years. Diversity is the word in TV right now and patience has truly been waning for this category to go to an African American actress. This year, we have three good chances in Washington, "How to Get Away With Murder's" Viola Davis, and "Empire's" Taraji P. Henson. Voters (and viewers) love a historic moment. Is this the year?</p>
<p><strong>6.) Can Julia Louis-Dreyfus actually lose this year?</strong></p>
<p><strong><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/55a6ba8a2acae7cc3f8b47a4-4050-2025/veep-julia-louis-dreyfus.jpg" alt="veep julia louis dreyfus" data-mce-source="Patrick Harbron/HBO" /></strong>The women's comedy competition has been dominated by well-deserving figures like Amy Poehler ("Parks and Recreation"), Edie Falco ("Nurse Jackie"), and "Veep's" Julia Louis-Dreyfus (who has won three&nbsp;years in a row). But, there's some new and returning stars that's certainly complicated the category. There's lots of buzz around "Jane the Virgin" star Gina Rodriguez (who won the Golden Globe) and "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt's" Ellie Kemper. Comedy Central's Amy Schumer ("Inside Amy Schumer") is the talk of the town and may surprise us all.</p>
<p>But, don't count out some of the older guard out either;&nbsp;Lisa Kudrow ("The Comeback"), Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin ("Grace and Frankie") are also strong contenders. Plus, Emmy voters love celebrating its entertainment icons.&nbsp;This could be the category to watch this year.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/2015-emmy-nomination-predictions-game-changers-2015-7" >19 TV stars who could shake up the 2015 Emmy nominations</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/emmy-nominations-predictions-questions-2015-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-bbc-just-shocked-everyone-with-a-clip-from-the-next-sherlock-episode-2015-7">The BBC just shocked everyone with a clip from the next 'Sherlock' episode</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-coke-ad-in-finale-2015-6Jon Hamm reveals how hard it was to get the Coke ad in the 'Mad Men' finalehttp://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-coke-ad-in-finale-2015-6
Wed, 24 Jun 2015 13:36:00 -0400Jason Guerrasio
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/55597cb66da81177522f1230-1200-706/don-draper-mad-men-zen.png" border="0" alt="don draper mad men zen"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">As the cast of “Mad Men” begin to do more press appearances following the series finale, we are getting some interesting behind-the-scenes knowledge on how some of our favorite scenes came together.</span></span></p>
<p>One of the most memorable is the final shot in the show’s finale episode in which Don Draper meditates on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean and then cuts to a famous Coca-Cola commercial, “<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-finale-coca-cola-ad-2015-5">I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke.</a>” </p>
<p>While on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” Tuesday, Jon Hamm, who played Draper, gave some insight on that ending.</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/55596bc9eab8eae51fc4f733-1200-924/mad-men-coca-cola.png" border="0" alt="mad men coca cola"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">“Matt Weiner, who writes the show, had seized on this idea around season four,” Hamm told Kimmel.</span></p>
<p>The show ran for seven seasons.</p>
<p>But getting the commercial in the episode was far from easy.</p>
<p>“There was a couple of years process of clearing that with Coca-Cola,” he revealed.</p>
<p>Following the finale, Coca-Cola <a href="http://www.people.com/article/mad-men-didnt-pay-for-iconic-coke-ad-in-series-finale">told People</a> that “no money exchanged hands” between the show and Coke for the use of the commercial in the finale. </p>
<p>Watch Hamm's full interview with Jimmy Kimmel below.</p>
<div><div>
<iframe width="512" height="288" src="http://www.hulu.com/embed.html?eid=s-pckmsvnpuyo9f-u31o7a" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></div>
<p class="embed-spacer"></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mad-man-peggy-olson-strut-elisabeth-moss-2015-6#ixzz3cDOZixEL" >Elisabeth Moss says this memorable 'Mad Men' scene was not fun to shoot</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-coke-ad-in-finale-2015-6#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-stars-of-mad-men-look-like-now-jon-hamm-2015-5">How the stars of AMC's blockbuster 'Mad Men' changed over the years</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-jon-hamm-series-finale-explained-2015-5Here's what Jon Hamm thinks happens to his Don Draper character after the 'Mad Men' finalehttp://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-jon-hamm-series-finale-explained-2015-5
Tue, 19 May 2015 12:35:00 -0400Jason Guerrasio
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/555b5c5b6da8116227606184-1200-600/jon-hamm-mad-men-finale-1.jpg" border="0" alt="jon hamm mad men finale"></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Following Sunday night's series finale of the AMC drama “Mad Men,” which hit a&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amc-mad-men-series-finale-ratings-2015-5">record ratings high</a>, the New York Times <a href="http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/05/18/mad-men-finale-jon-hamm-interview/?_r=0">talked to lead actor Jon Hamm</a>&nbsp;about this thoughts on the finale.</span></p>
<p>Hamm said that he and "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner talked about the ending “for a long time,” and that the show runner was fixated on the finale ending with Draper’s eyes closed and a smile on his face.</p>
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5559f925ecad0489321d8714-1200-706/f28abfc9-6cd9-217b-8bc7-fd48dd3621a9_mm714-21.jpg" border="0" alt="Don end"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Here’s Hamm's interpretation of that moment, and the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-finale-coca-cola-ad-2015-5">Coca-Cola ad</a> that followed:</span></p>
<blockquote class="blockquote">"My take is that, the next day, he wakes up in this beautiful place, and has this serene moment of understanding, and realizes who he is. And who he is, is an advertising man. And so, this thing comes to him. There’s a way to see it in a completely cynical way, and say, 'Wow, that’s awful.' But I think that for Don, it represents some kind of understanding and comfort in this incredibly unquiet, uncomfortable life that he has led. There was a little bit of a crumb dropped earlier in the season when Ted says there are three women in every man’s life, and Don says, 'You’ve been sitting on that for a while, huh?' There are, not coincidentally, three person to person phone calls that Don makes in this episode, to three women who are important to him for different reasons. You see the slow degeneration of his relationships with those women over the course of those phone calls."</blockquote>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5559fc476da811c10a015096-1024-563/don phone sad 2 s7 mad men.jpg" border="0" alt="don phone sad 2 s7 mad men" style="color: #000000;">T</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">he emotional phone call Don has with Peggy was a challenge to shoot. Hamm explains:</span></p>
<blockquote class="blockquote">"[With January Jones and Kiernan Shipka], we shot those on set. So you can actually have the person sitting right off camera, reading the lines to you. [For Elisabeth Moss], we were three and a half hours up the [California] coast, on the edge of a cliff. When he hangs up with Peggy, that was an incredibly difficult scene to shoot. We were in the middle of nowhere, and they were going to just have someone else read the lines, off-screen, for me. Elisabeth wasn’t there, but both Elisabeth and I suggested that it might be better if we could have an actual connection on the phone. So she was on the other end of the phone. I’m sure there are other takes of that scene where I’m much more emotional, and Matthew chose to use the ones that are a little more confused and restrained. He’s completely bereft, and because of that, he is then open to hearing this information and this story from this stranger."</blockquote>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5559fc5e69beddb01cd03268-1024-559/don phone season 7 mad men.jpg" border="0" alt="don phone season 7 mad men" style="color: #000000;">Hamm believes how we leave the characters in the finale is not necessarily how their lives will turn out:</span></p>
<blockquote class="blockquote">"The world doesn’t blow up right after the Coke commercial ends. No one is suggesting that Stan and Peggy live happily ever after, or that Joan’s business is a rousing success, or that Roger and Marie come back from Paris together. None of it is done. Matt had said at one point, 'I just want my characters to be a little more happy than they were in the beginning,' and I think that’s pretty much true. But these aren’t the last moments of any of these characters’ lives, including Betty. She doesn’t have much time left, but damn if she’s not going to spend it the way she wants to spend it."</blockquote>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5559f81269bedd367bd0326b-1200-858/01a3b4fe-8add-56d1-c21c-594920a77b82_mm_714_my_0627_0184.jpg" border="0" alt="Roger Sterling and Marie" style="color: #000000;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Hamm said at a Television Academy event last weekend that after playing Don Draper he’s going to “fade into nothingness and no one will remember me.” Does he really believe that?</span></p>
<blockquote class="blockquote">I think every actor thinks that when they end a job. You only hope that something else comes along. Do I think I will fade into obscurity? Hopefully not yet. But probably at some point, I will. Because that’s the nature of all things flesh. That’s how it works. It’s a hell of a thing, to end something like this. Is my melancholy seeping through enough? [laughs] In a much more healthy sense, we all put this show to bed quite some time ago, and said our goodbyes and cried our tears. Everybody’s moved on. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone else’s next things. As I said to someone, I’ll see you on 'The Love Boat.' And if you print that, somebody, somewhere, is going to pitch that.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="blockquote"><strong>Read Hamm's full interview with The New York Times </strong><a href="http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/05/18/mad-men-finale-jon-hamm-interview/?_r=0" target="_blank"><strong>here</strong>.</a></blockquote><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-finale-explained-2015-5" >This moment in the pilot episode of "Mad Men" predicted how Don Draper would end up</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-jon-hamm-series-finale-explained-2015-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-stars-of-mad-men-look-like-now-jon-hamm-2015-5">How the stars of AMC's blockbuster 'Mad Men' changed over the years</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/what-stars-of-mad-men-look-like-now-jon-hamm-2015-5How the stars of AMC's blockbuster 'Mad Men' changed over the yearshttp://www.businessinsider.com/what-stars-of-mad-men-look-like-now-jon-hamm-2015-5
Mon, 18 May 2015 09:00:00 -0400Devan Joseph
<div><div>
<script src="https://apis.google.com/js/platform.js"></script><div class="g-ytsubscribe" data-channel="BusinessInsider" data-layout="full" data-count="default"></div>
</div></div>
<p class="embed-spacer"></p>
<p>We now live in a world without "Mad Men." We've said goodbye to Don, Roger, Joan, Peggy, Pete and the rest of the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (and other, lesser partners) gang. Let's indulge our nostalgia by revisiting how our favorite characters looked when the show first premiered in 2007.</p>
<p><em>Produced by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/author/devan-joseph">Devan Joseph </a></em></p>
<p><strong>Follow BI Video: </strong><a href="https://www.facebook.com/BusinessInsider.Video">On Facebook</a></p>
<p> </p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-stars-of-mad-men-look-like-now-jon-hamm-2015-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/jon-hamm-accused-of-violent-fraternity-hazing-2015-4Jon Hamm accused of violent fraternity hazing while he was a student at the University of Texashttp://www.businessinsider.com/jon-hamm-accused-of-violent-fraternity-hazing-2015-4
Fri, 10 Apr 2015 10:08:00 -0400PAUL J. WEBER
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5527d77d69bedd955140432e-600-/jon-hamm-mad-men-don-draper.jpg" border="0" alt="Jon Hamm Mad Men Don Draper" width="600"></p><p>"Mad Men" star Jon Hamm took part in a violent college hazing in 1990 at the University of Texas that led to criminal charges and to the fraternity chapter permanently disbanding, according to court and school records obtained Thursday.</p>
<p>The Emmy-nominated actor had not previously been publicly linked to a lawsuit filed by a Sigma Nu pledge who said he was severely beaten and dragged by a hammer and had his pants lit on fire. In the 1991 lawsuit, the pledge said Hamm participated "till the very end."</p>
<p>Criminal records show Hamm, now 44, was charged with hazing and received deferred adjudication, which under Texas law means he had to successfully complete probation but was never convicted. A separate charge of assault was dismissed.</p>
<p>Representatives for Hamm and "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.</p>
<p>None of the records were sealed, but Hamm was not famous when the incident happened, and his connection to the case did not come to light until Star magazine reported on it this week.</p>
<p>The case resurfaced just as the critically acclaimed "Mad Men" begins airing its final season on AMC.</p>
<p>According to the lawsuit, Hamm became "mad, I mean really mad" after the 20-year-old Sigma Nu pledge failed to recite things he was supposed to memorize about Hamm and other fraternity members. For Hamm, his list included "Young Bobby," ''MC Hammer" and "UT Football Punching Bag."</p>
<p>The pledge, Mark Allen Sanders, said Hamm went on to set his jeans on fire, shove his face in dirt, and strike him with a paddle.</p>
<p>"He rears back and hits me left-handed, and he hit me right over my right kidney, I mean square over it," Sanders said in the lawsuit. "Good solid hit and that, that stood me right up."</p>
<p>Sanders said he needed medical care and withdrew from the school. Court records show the lawsuit was dismissed in 1993. Attempts to reach Sanders were unsuccessful Thursday, and his former attorney did not return a message.</p>
<p>Four other fraternity members were charged and pleaded no contest to misdemeanor hazing charges. The Sigma Nu chapter was shut down and never reopened on campus.</p>
<p>University records show Hamm arrived on campus in the fall of 1989 and left after the same semester in which the hazing took place. In a 2008 interview with W Magazine, Hamm said he left school his sophomore year after his father died and he returned to his home state of Missouri.</p>
<p>In March, Hamm completed a stint in rehab for what his representatives said was treatment for alcohol addiction.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jon-hamm-accused-of-violent-fraternity-hazing-2015-4#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/beauty-standards-family-values-china-2015-2">What the Chinese saying 'The ugly wife is a treasure at home' actually means</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/how-mad-men-avoids-spoilers-2015-4Here's how 'Mad Men' is so good at avoiding spoilershttp://www.businessinsider.com/how-mad-men-avoids-spoilers-2015-4
Mon, 06 Apr 2015 16:42:00 -0400Ian Phillips
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5522e96aeab8ea9e7b314794-1200-600/mad-men-cast-photo-2-9.jpg" border="0" alt="Mad Men Cast Photo 2"></p><p></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">It seems hard to come across an article for any current TV show without seeing the phrase "Spoiler Alert" scrawled across the top of the page.</span></p>
<p>In the case of a lot of popular shows, major details might get leaked long before the new season even starts. But "Mad Men" has a strong track record of surprising its audience. Last night, a character from season one <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-premiere-rachel-katz-death-2015-4">returned</a> with absolutely no hints prior to the season premiere. </p>
<p>Creator Matthew Weiner believes that even minor plot details can spoil an entire episode, so he does as much as possible to prevent information from getting out.</p>
<p>The show's vague plot synopses has become something of an inside joke for fans:</p>
<div><div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>
I'll miss you the most, vague Mad Men episode descriptions. <a href="http://t.co/KYbrJWCaIh">pic.twitter.com/KYbrJWCaIh</a> </p>— Josh Kurp (@JoshKurp) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/582550718231494656">March 30, 2015</a>
</blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></div>
<p class="embed-spacer"></p>
<p class="embed-spacer">The "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wpd4mkhVdDI">Scenes from next week</a>" that play at the end of each episode are equally as vague. </p>
<p class="embed-spacer">"I've always felt like not knowing what happens was our <em>niche</em> in the marketplace," <a href="http://www.eonline.com/news/642927/mad-men-creator-matt-weiner-reveals-reason-for-7-year-war-on-spoilers-you-">Weiner told E!</a> "That there would be something where you would watch it the first time and you would have no idea, and then it would create tension. Because to me, coming attractions and trailers and things like that relieve tension, so that then you would know the story and you could relax a little bit, and I didn't ever want people to do that."</p>
<p class="embed-spacer">But the real secret weapon that Weiner and the cast have figured out to keep stories secret is to avoid almost all social media. </p>
<p class="embed-spacer">During an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI7d4tkz4e4">interview</a> on "Today," Jon Hamm (who plays Don Draper) had this to say:</p>
<p class="embed-spacer" style="padding-left: 30px;">"Well, I mean, not a lot of us are active kind of social media-ites. There's a few Instagrammers and Tweeters but not very, very... for the modern world, we're pretty luddite in that sense."</p>
<p class="embed-spacer">Elisabeth Moss (who plays Peggy Olson) added:</p>
<p class="embed-spacer" style="padding-left: 30px;">"We were never a part of that. Our show was around before all of that became crazy. So... it was never really our thing. So it's been easy to stay out of it."</p>
<p class="embed-spacer">They are not exaggerating. The likes of Weiner, Hamm, John Slattery, and Christina Hendricks are absent from all social media. Moss just <a href="https://instagram.com/elisabethmossofficial/">joined Instagram last week</a>. Meanwhile, <a href="https://twitter.com/richsommer">Rich Sommer</a>, who has been on the show since season one, isn't even verified on Twitter. </p>
<p class="embed-spacer">When the castmembers do post about the show, they seem less intent on showing what is ahead and more focused on nostalgia: </p>
<div><div>
<h1></h1>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-version="3" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px); width:658px">
<div style="padding:8px;">
<div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;">
<div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div>
</div>
<p style="color:#c9c8cd; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://instagram.com/p/1GdFCRPA-q/" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_top"></a> on
<time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime=""></time></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>
</div></div>
<p> </p>
<div><div>
<h1></h1>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-version="3" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px); width:658px">
<div style="padding:8px;">
<div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;">
<div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div>
</div>
<p style="color:#c9c8cd; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://instagram.com/p/0txMsBitPZ/" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_top"></a> on
<time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime=""></time></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>
</div></div>
<p class="embed-spacer"></p>
<p class="embed-spacer"></p>
<p class="embed-spacer"></p>
<p class="embed-spacer">Meanwhile, someone like Mindy Kaling might use social media to reveal an <a href="https://instagram.com/p/zV1KvAJQz8/?taken-by=mindykaling">upcoming guest star</a> on "The Mindy Project" rather than keep it a surprise. <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">And any little thing an <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/entertainment/game-of-thrones-instagram-spoiler/">actor from "Game of Thrones" posts</a> could somehow be seen as a spoiler. Luckily, nobody from "Mad Men" ever seems to live tweet episodes as they air.</span></p>
<p class="embed-spacer">Despite winning multiple Emmys and getting <a href="http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/tag/mad-men-ratings/" target="_blank">solid ratings</a>, "Mad Men" never became a <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/dinagachman/2015/04/02/how-mad-men-missed-the-social-media-revolution/">social media phenomenon</a>. Unlike "The Walking Dead" and "Game of Thrones," "Mad Men" relies more heavily on <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/dinagachman/2015/04/02/how-mad-men-missed-the-social-media-revolution/">traditional advertising methods</a> such as outdoor ads and TV commercials.</p>
<p class="embed-spacer"><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5522dd4169bedd4410f90bb4-1200-600/matthew-weiner-jon-hamm.jpg" border="0" alt="Matthew Weiner Jon Hamm"></p>
<p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Given that "Mad Men" is a period piece, it is fitting that a show set before social media doesn't rely on it for success at all. </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The lack of information that leaks out about the show gives it a </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"></span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/26/mad-men-spoilers_n_6949882.html">"commercial uniqueness."</a></p>
<p class="embed-spacer">While nobody in the cast is forbidden from tweeting about the series, Weiner <a href="http://www.zap2it.com/blogs/mad_men_creator_spoilerphobe_matthew_weiner_wouldnt_even_tell_whole_cast_ending-2015-04">wouldn't even tell the cast the ending during the show's final table read</a>. In a <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2e0npr/hi_my_name_is_matthew_weiner_you_may_know_me_from/cjuybdl">Reddit AMA</a>, Weiner described his reasoning for such extreme secrecy measures simply as a respect for the viewers: <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"I think if you like the show, you will watch the show, and I dont want to ruin anything."</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-premiere-rachel-katz-death-2015-4" >There was a minor character death on the season premiere of 'Mad Men' </a></strong></p>
<p><strong>MORE:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-actor-roles-before-they-were-famous-2015-4?op=1#ixzz3WYyzJ2v2" >10 early roles of 'Mad Men' actors before they were stars</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-mad-men-avoids-spoilers-2015-4#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-stars-mad-men-have-changed-since-2007-jon-hamm-2015-3">How the stars of AMC's blockbuster 'Mad Men' have changed over the years</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-mad-men-story-up-to-now-so-you-can-catch-up-before-the-last-episodes-2015-4Here's the 'Mad Men' story up to now so you can catch up before the last episodeshttp://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-mad-men-story-up-to-now-so-you-can-catch-up-before-the-last-episodes-2015-4
Sun, 05 Apr 2015 14:55:00 -0400Benji Wilson
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5367ac82eab8ead320c44727-600-/don-draper-mad-men-season-7-episode-4.jpg" border="0" alt="Don Draper, Mad Men, Season 7, Episode 4" width="600"></p><p>The trouble with trying to tell the story of <em>Mad Men</em> is that compared to most long-running TV series it doesn't have much story.</p>
<p>Most of the past 8 years and 85 episodes have been spent mapping out the psychologies of the main characters, without necessarily hitting plot points, other than moving inexorably forward in time. <em>Mad Men</em>'s calling card has always been deliberate, extended, sometimes wilfully obtuse storytelling.</p>
<p>And yet you can paraphrase the entire show with a single question: who is <strong><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/10762227/Mad-Men-They-dont-make-them-like-Don-Draper-any-more....html">Don Draper</a></strong>?</p>
<p>When we first met him in March 1960 the answer was a brilliant ad man, surfing on the wave of American post–war optimism and consumer spending, able to sell anything to anyone with his shrewd intuition and bravura pitching.</p>
<p>When we last left him in July 1969 the answer was he still a brilliant ad man but psychologically, seven series had taught us, he was all at sea, a shapeshifter who, in his own words, "doesn't know what he wants - but he's wanting". Seven series of Mad Men have essentially been about Don Draper (Jon Hamm) and that wanting.</p>
<p>The series began at the start of the 60s but America, it suggested, was very much still parked in the 50s.</p>
<p>Madison Avenue, we learned from the outset, was steeped in prejudice, racist and misogynistic – a new secretary starting out at Don's agency Sterling Cooper called Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss) almost inevitably found herself pregnant at the hands of a waspish, grasping account man called Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) within days.</p>
<p>Yet in the aftermath of the Korean War and before the backlash against Vietnam, this was a society rent with possibility. Even women could climb the ladder, as Peggy found out when her talent with words was spotted and she was made a copywriter.</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5521833deab8eacc2573675c-1200-924/don-draper-and-peggy-olsen-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Don Draper &amp; Peggy Olsen"></p>
<p>Don was her mentor and idol. In a now classic scene from the first episode Draper delivered a pitch for the Kodak Carousel that laid the framework for the show's abiding themes – identity, nostalgia, our relationship with our past, reinvention and the ultimate impossibility of real, as opposed to superficial, change.</p>
<p>We discovered throughout the first three series that Don exemplifies all of these themes – his real name, we learnt, is Dick Whitman, but by swapping dog tags with his dead commanding officer as a means to escape the Korean War he had stolen somebody else's identity and begun a new life.</p>
<p>That new life, needless to say, was one big, roiling identity crisis – Draper veered from one woman to the next on a spuming fountain of alcohol, cigarettes and high times. His wife Betty (January Jones) and his two children began the series oblivious, but their marriage – picket-fenced perfection, on the face of it - soon began to falter as both of them started to realise they had no idea who the other one was.</p>
<p>The <strong><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/dvd-reviews/5779504/Mad-Men-Complete-Season-2-DVD-review.html">second series</a></strong> jumped forward two years to 1962, with Don and Betty's marriage two years worse off. While Don embarked on a memorable, volatile affair with the wife of a comedian who was the face of a Sterling Cooper account, several other characters came to the fore and none of them had a happier time of it.</p>
<p>The office manager Joan (Christina Hendricks) got engaged to a doctor, only for him to rape her. Pete Campbell made a mirror image of Don's picture-perfect marriage with his own special girl Trudy, and then that started to unravel. Sterling Cooper's bibulous senior partner Roger Sterling dumped his wife for his secretary, but then needed a bucketful of cash to fund the divorce, and this led to the first of several buy-outs and mergers for the agency. Betty, fed up of her husband's roving eye, ended the season having sex with a stranger in a bar.</p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/551eb9b269bedd5e37a43757-932-699/mad-men-pete-campbell.jpg" border="0" alt="Mad Men Pete Campbell"></p>
<p><strong>Series three</strong> paralleled the unravelling of the Draper marriage – Don still incapable of fidelity; Betty taking up with an affable, dashing politico called Henry Francis in response – with the formation of a new ad agency, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. The Pryce was Lane Pryce (Jared Harris), an Englishman abroad brought in initially to help manage the agency's financial affairs.</p>
<p>In part thanks to Lane's influence, come <strong><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8174719/Mad-Men-season-finale-BBC-Four-review.html">season four</a></strong>, set in 1964 and 65, and SCDP looked every inch the modern agency – so much so that Don, the onetime sultan of suave, suddenly began to look like a bit of dinosaur.</p>
<p>All around him other characters prospered. Lane was a man people liked – both within SCDP and externally, among Mad Men fans, where his gentleman's code contrasted with the prevailing amorality of Madison Avenue. Meanwhile Peggy went from strength to strength, embracing the counterculture, finding her mojo at work and at home.</p>
<p>Don's response was to concentrate less on the work and more on his new secretary Megan – he asked her to marry him on a whim on a trip to California – a sun-kissed promised land that started to feature more regularly in the show from now on.</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5511c757eab8ead7083e099a-1200-924/megan-draper-jessica-pare-mad-men.jpg" border="0" alt="Megan Draper Jessica Pare Mad Men"></p>
<p>Inevitably, by the time we caught up with Don and Megan in <strong><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9662473/Mad-Men-Season-5-DVD-review.html">series five</a></strong>, two years later in 1966, things were not looking so rosy. But for once Don's travails seemed immaterial next to the implosion of Pete Campbell's suburban dream life with Trudy and, unforgettably, the suicide of Lane in his office after he was discovered embezzling money from the agency.</p>
<p>Only Peggy – who had left SCDP in order to progress her career and had found immediate success at her new agency under Don-a-like Ted Chaough – looked to be on an upward curve.</p>
<p>And yet <strong><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9985542/Mad-Men-series-six-opener-Sky-Atlantic-review.html">the sixth season</a></strong>, set in 1968 with the counterculture in full swing, began with Don and Megan on a beach in Hawaii, seemingly happy. Which meant of course that Don had started up another affair with a next-door neighbour.</p>
<p>At work the agency attempted to swap Heinz Baked Beans for Heinz Ketchup and ended up losing both, while more literal bereavements were everywhere – the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy both featured. And if there was anywhere lower for a spiralling Don's family life to go, it reached its nadir when his daughter Sally caught him in flagrante with the neighbour.</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5500ad0a6bb3f7f276790254-1200-924/roger-sterling-john-slattery.jpg" border="0" alt="Roger Sterling John Slattery"></p>
<p>When the agency merged with Peggy's (and Ted's) old shop, everyone started to ask what is the point of an increasingly dissolute Don. Yet at least he appeared to have found some self-knowledge – the series ended with him taking his children to the brothel he grew up in, suggesting he might be about to admit who he really is.</p>
<p>Which takes us to the final season. Don, who'd been suspended from the newly named Sterling Cooper &amp; Partners, re-entered the office hierarchy, though he was now working under Peggy. She, of course, had been delivering barnstorming ad pitches just like the Don of old.</p>
<p>His marriage to Megan appeared to be over – she's on the West coast working as an actress, he's still in Manhattan. Yet the prevailing mood was upbeat.</p>
<p>We were left last year with an unusual glint of happiness – even the death of agency founder Bert Cooper (Robert Morse) went down with a song and dance. Pete Campbell appeared to have lightened up now that he's stationed with Ted in SC&amp;P's West Coast office, and Betty had morphed in to something approaching a modern woman, having spent several seasons as a buttoned-up prig in a fancy frock.</p>
<p>It can't last, can <em>it</em>?</p>
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/552184e8eab8ea432d73675b-1200-600/mad-men-bert-cooper-3.png" border="0" alt="Mad Men Bert Cooper"></p>
<p><img src="https://pixel.newscred.com/px.gif?key=YXJ0aWNsZT02MjgzMzI4MGQyNWQ1MDViY2RjZjIxYWVmMTQ2MmI0ZiZwdWJsaXNoZXI9NzMwZWI4NmFiNTlmMGQ0MTkyNmFjNjViMDFmODNlMmY=" border="0" alt="" width="1" height="1"></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-mad-men-story-up-to-now-so-you-can-catch-up-before-the-last-episodes-2015-4#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-headphones-tricks-2015-2">14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/how-stars-mad-men-have-changed-since-2007-jon-hamm-2015-3'Mad Men' stars: Then and nowhttp://www.businessinsider.com/how-stars-mad-men-have-changed-since-2007-jon-hamm-2015-3
Sun, 05 Apr 2015 12:44:00 -0400Devan Joseph
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-stars-mad-men-have-changed-since-2007-jon-hamm-2015-3"><strong>Click for the story &gt;</strong></a></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-stars-mad-men-have-changed-since-2007-jon-hamm-2015-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-season-7-recap-2015-4?#ixzz3WGydRoOiEverything you need to know before watching the final episodes of 'Mad Men'http://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-season-7-recap-2015-4?#ixzz3WGydRoOi
Sun, 05 Apr 2015 08:55:00 -0400Jason Guerrasio
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/551bfed86da8119e74b35c03-1200-924/intro-mad-men-7-1.jpg" border="0" alt="intro Mad Men 7 1"></p><p>AMC will begin to air the final episodes of “Mad Men” on Sunday.</p>
<p>If you haven't had a chance to watch the first part of the final season 7, which aired last spring, don't worry, we have you covered.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Before saying goodbye for good to Don Draper and the rest of the gang, here's a refresher of what went down the first half of the final season.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">If you haven't watched the first part of season 7 yet, <strong>warning: spoilers ahead.</strong></span></p><h3>Season 7 begins with Don Draper (Jon Hamm) still on “mandatory leave of absence” from Sterling Cooper & Partners after he divulged his shocking childhood at a pitch meeting with Hershey at the end of season 6.</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/551b0ee369bedd926bf7348f-400-300/season-7-begins-with-don-draper-jon-hamm-still-on-mandatory-leave-of-absence-from-sterling-cooper-and-partners-after-he-divulged-his-shocking-childhood-at-a-pitch-meeting-with-hershey-at-the-end-of-season-6.jpg" alt="" />
<p><h2 class="slide-title">&nbsp;</h2>
<h2 class="slide-title">&nbsp;</h2></p>
<br/><br/><h3>But Don doesn't reveal his work situation to his actress-wife Megan (Jessica Paré), who he still visits in Los Angeles on the weekends.</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/551b0f0169bedd966bf7348f-400-300/but-don-doesnt-reveal-his-work-situation-to-his-actress-wife-megan-jessica-par-who-he-still-visits-in-los-angeles-on-the-weekends.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>Back at the advertising agency's office in New York, Peggy Olsen (Elisabeth Moss) is at odds with Lou Avery (Allan Havey), Don’s fill-in.</h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/551b0f296bb3f7812053d8cb-400-300/back-at-the-advertising-agencys-office-in-new-york-peggy-olsen-elisabeth-moss-is-at-odds-with-lou-avery-allan-havey-dons-fill-in.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-season-7-recap-2015-4?#ixzz3WGydRoOi#peggy-still-has-romantic-feelings-for-colleague-ted-chaough-kevin-rahm-who-she-had-a-brief-affair-with-things-come-to-a-head-on-valentines-day-when-she-mistakenly-thinks-the-roses-on-her-secretarys-desk-are-to-her-from-ted-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-season-7-recap-2015-4Everything you need to know before watching the final episodes of ‘Mad Men’http://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-season-7-recap-2015-4
Sun, 05 Apr 2015 08:27:00 -0400Jason Guerrasio
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/551bfed86da8119e74b35c03-1200-924/intro-mad-men-7-1.jpg" border="0" alt="intro Mad Men 7 1"></p><p>AMC will begin to air the final episodes of “Mad Men” on Sunday.</p>
<p>If you haven't had a chance to watch the first part of the final season 7, which aired last spring, don't worry, we have you covered.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Before saying goodbye for good to Don Draper and the rest of the gang, here's a refresher of what went down the first half of the final season.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">If you haven't watched the first part of season 7 yet, <strong>warning: spoilers ahead.</strong></span></p><h3>Season 7 begins with Don Draper (Jon Hamm) still on “mandatory leave of absence” from Sterling Cooper & Partners after he divulged his shocking childhood at a pitch meeting with Hershey at the end of season 6.</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/551b0ee369bedd926bf7348f-400-300/season-7-begins-with-don-draper-jon-hamm-still-on-mandatory-leave-of-absence-from-sterling-cooper-and-partners-after-he-divulged-his-shocking-childhood-at-a-pitch-meeting-with-hershey-at-the-end-of-season-6.jpg" alt="" />
<p><h2 class="slide-title">&nbsp;</h2>
<h2 class="slide-title">&nbsp;</h2></p>
<br/><br/><h3>But Don doesn't reveal his work situation to his actress-wife Megan (Jessica Paré), who he still visits in Los Angeles on the weekends.</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/551b0f0169bedd966bf7348f-400-300/but-don-doesnt-reveal-his-work-situation-to-his-actress-wife-megan-jessica-par-who-he-still-visits-in-los-angeles-on-the-weekends.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>Back at the advertising agency's office in New York, Peggy Olsen (Elisabeth Moss) is at odds with Lou Avery (Allan Havey), Don’s fill-in.</h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/551b0f296bb3f7812053d8cb-400-300/back-at-the-advertising-agencys-office-in-new-york-peggy-olsen-elisabeth-moss-is-at-odds-with-lou-avery-allan-havey-dons-fill-in.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-season-7-recap-2015-4#peggy-still-has-romantic-feelings-for-colleague-ted-chaough-kevin-rahm-who-she-had-a-brief-affair-with-things-come-to-a-head-on-valentines-day-when-she-mistakenly-thinks-the-roses-on-her-secretarys-desk-are-to-her-from-ted-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/how-stars-mad-men-have-changed-since-2007-jon-hamm-2015-3How the stars of AMC's blockbuster 'Mad Men' have changed over the yearshttp://www.businessinsider.com/how-stars-mad-men-have-changed-since-2007-jon-hamm-2015-3
Wed, 01 Apr 2015 07:57:00 -0400Devan Joseph
<div><div>
<script src="https://apis.google.com/js/platform.js"></script><div class="g-ytsubscribe" data-channel="BusinessInsider" data-layout="full" data-count="default"></div>
</div></div>
<p class="embed-spacer"></p>
<p>Part 2 of the seventh and final season of AMC's "<a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men">Mad Men</a>" will premiere on Sunday, April 5.<span> Take a look at the show's stars when the series began in 2007 compared to 2015. </span></p>
<p><em>Produced by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/author/devan-joseph">Devan Joseph </a></em></p>
<p><strong>Follow BI Video: </strong><a href="https://www.facebook.com/BusinessInsider.Video">On Facebook</a></p>
<p> </p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-stars-mad-men-have-changed-since-2007-jon-hamm-2015-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/gone-girl-jon-hamm-almost-played-lead-2015-3Jon Hamm reportedly wanted to play Ben Affleck's part in 'Gone Girl'http://www.businessinsider.com/gone-girl-jon-hamm-almost-played-lead-2015-3
Tue, 31 Mar 2015 12:57:00 -0400Brent McKnight
<p><span><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/551ab72969beddaf6ef7348f-1200-600/don-draper-mad-men-season-7-1.png" border="0" alt="Don Draper Mad Men Season 7"></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Last year,&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Hey-Oscars-Thanks-Spoiling-Gone-Girl-69931.html"><em>Gone Girl</em></a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;became far and away director&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.cinemablend.com/new/10-Actors-We-Want-Star-With-Ben-Affleck-David-Fincher-Strangers-Train-69168.html">David Fincher</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">’s biggest box office hit.</span></p>
<p><span>Stars&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Rosamund-Pike-Return-Gone-Girl-2-Person-Does-67648.html">Rosamund Pike</a><span>&nbsp;and&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Ben-Affleck-Could-Plug-Batman-V-Superman-Testifying-Congress-70537.html">Ben Affleck</a><span>&nbsp;garnered rave reviews for their portrayal of the Dunne’s, the most dysfunctional couple you’ll ever hope to meet, but the male lead, Nick, was almost played by Jon Hamm. The&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.cinemablend.com/television/How-Mad-Men-Season-6-Was-Secretly-About-Vietnam-57001.html"><em>Mad Men</em></a><span>&nbsp;star was up for the part, but contract issues prevented him from taking it, and he’s still a little pissed.</span></p>
<p><span>David Fincher’s pulpy adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel went on to gross north of $368 million worldwide and score a Best Actress Oscar nomination for Pike. With&nbsp;</span><em>Mad Men</em><span>&nbsp;drawing to a close, this could have been just the kind of breakout movie role Hamm needed to keep up the momentum in his career.</span></p>
<p><span><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/551ab89a6da811377284d430-1200-600/gone-girl-11.jpg" border="0" alt="gone girl"></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Unfortunately for him, sources told&nbsp;</span><a href="http://pagesix.com/2015/03/29/jon-hamms-contract-barred-him-from-starring-in-gone-girl/">Page Six</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;that&nbsp;</span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">Mad Men</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;creator Matt Weiner wouldn’t let Hamm out of his contractual obligations to the series. Their source claims Hamm is upset about missing out on what could have been a major opportunity as he moves on to whatever is next.</span></p>
<p><span>Another source chalked up Jon Hamm not being able to take the role of Nick Dunne as a result of the shooting schedule of&nbsp;</span><em>Mad Men</em><span>. </span></p>
<p><span>You can understand not wanting to lose their star just as the show moves into the push towards the finish line, but it’s also easy to recognize why Hamm would be frustrated at having to pass on such a visible role. That would be a nice wave to ride into his post-</span><em>Mad Men</em><span>&nbsp;life, and it’s hard not to feel for the guy, though he’ll probably have a shot at a few more high profile roles before he calls it a day.</span></p>
<p><span><span>If there is any bad blood between Hamm and Weiner, the actor is certainly hiding it well. Fresh out of a 30-day stint in rehab for his heavy drinking, something he has dealt with for a number of years, Hamm has been fulfilling all of his press obligations, even appearing alongside Weiner and not giving any appearance of a feud or beef. It is possible to be upset, but not take it personally.</span></span></p>
<p><span><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/551ab9016bb3f7793a53d8d2-1200-600/matthew-weiner-mad-men-9.jpg" border="0" alt="Matthew Weiner, Mad Men"></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Jon Hamm could have been very good as Nick, the husband who returns home on his anniversary to find that his wife,&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.cinemablend.com/new/10-Best-Movie-Villains-2014-68863-p10.html">Amy</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;(Pike), has disappeared. While we can wonder what could have been, it’s hard to argue with Ben Affleck, who nailed the part that shifts back and forth between victim to duped spouse to murder suspect and more.</span></p>
<p><span><span>That’s really the best part of&nbsp;</span><em>Gone Girl</em><span>, how it sets up your expectations throughout, only to continually subvert them until you’re never sure what to believe. Still, the whole world could have been talking about getting a quick glimpse of Jon Hamm’s wang instead of Affleck’s. You can’t buy publicity like that.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Fans have been waiting to see the finale of one of the most acclaimed shows in recent memory since last May, and the final seven episodes of&nbsp;</span><em>Mad Men</em><span>&nbsp;begin this Sunday, April 5 on AMC.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/creepy-abandoned-mall-gone-girl-2014-10" >Go Inside The Creepy Abandoned Mall Featured In 'Gone Girl' </a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gone-girl-jon-hamm-almost-played-lead-2015-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-final-season-trailer-don-draper-jon-hamm-amc-2015-2">The trailer for the final season of 'Mad Men' is here</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/bryan-cranston-advice-to-jon-hamm-mad-men-2015-3Here's what Bryan Cranston warned Jon Hamm about ending 'Mad Men'http://www.businessinsider.com/bryan-cranston-advice-to-jon-hamm-mad-men-2015-3
Mon, 23 Mar 2015 16:13:00 -0400Ashley Lee
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/55106ccb69bedd9e3aa1aaa6-1200-924/bryan-cranston-jon-hamm-2.jpg" border="0" alt="Bryan Cranston Jon Hamm">As&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/mad-men-review-amc-series-783581" target="_blank"><em>Mad Men</em></a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;enters its final seven episodes next month, all eyes are watching&nbsp;</span><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Jon Hamm</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;— including&nbsp;</span><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Bryan Cranston</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">.</span></p>
<p>The&nbsp;<em>Breaking Bad</em>&nbsp;star gave advice to the&nbsp;<em>Mad Men</em>&nbsp;mainstay on the hardships&nbsp;of ending a series, Hamm&nbsp;<a href="http://www.gq.com/entertainment/celebrities/201504/jon-hamm-after-mad-men" target="_blank">noted in a&nbsp;<em>GQ</em>&nbsp;April cover story</a>.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">"It's hard, man," Cranston told him. "It's hard to let it go. It'll hit you a couple of different ways at different times."</p>
<p>Hamm added that over the years, it's been exhausting to partake in Don Draper's downward spirals.</p>
<p>"You're kind of hoping for redemption, and it's not forthcoming. … To consistently come in and be the bummer was always like, 'Oh, that's not fun.' But at the same time, it's been like the greatest obstacle course in the world. A puzzle to figure out."</p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5503445e6bb3f7b4388b456c-1136-568/don-draper-beatles-2.png" border="0" alt="Don Draper, Beatles"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The actor said that shooting the final episodes for the AMC series "was like senior year in high school. … 'We'll stay in touch!' 'I'll text you!' 'We'll see each other all the time!' And it's like, 'Will we really?' "</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/55106d38eab8ea2062ac5ebd-1200-600/mad-men-cast-photo-2-4.jpg" border="0" alt="Mad Men Cast Photo 2"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">But beyond the role, he wondered, "Are people still going to take me seriously? Am I just going to do romantic comedies for the rest of my life? What's next? And I don't know, you know? I wish I was smug enough to have had a grand plan. I guess some people would say, 'OK, the last three years of</span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;Mad Men</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;is going to be like this: I want to do a play. I want to do this. I want to do that.' I was just like, 'I want to do something that seems cool.' "</span></span></p>
<p><em>Mad Men</em>&nbsp;begins its final run April 5 at 10 p.m. on AMC.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/26-sexist-ads-of-the-mad-men-era-2014-5" >26 Sexist Ads of the 'Mad Men' Era</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bryan-cranston-advice-to-jon-hamm-mad-men-2015-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/walter-white-breaking-bad-super-bowl-ad-2015-2">Bryan Cranston returns as his 'Breaking Bad' character in a Super Bowl ad</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-oral-history-how-show-created-2015-3Every studio passed on 'Mad Men' at first; here's the epic story of how it finally got on the airhttp://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-oral-history-how-show-created-2015-3
Sat, 14 Mar 2015 08:58:00 -0400Lacey Rose & Michael O'Connell
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5500a28f6bb3f72440215c96-1200-600/mad-men-cast-photo-2.jpg" border="0" alt="Mad Men Cast Photo 2"></p><p></p>
<p>Don Draper lived on hard drives for half a decade before anybody paid him any notice.</p>
<p>In 1999,&nbsp;<strong>Matthew Weiner</strong>, then an unfulfilled writer on CBS'&nbsp;<strong>Ted Danson</strong>&nbsp;sitcom&nbsp;<em>Becker</em>, spent his every off-hour doing research on the 1960s: what people wore, how they decorated their offices, what they ate and drank (and smoked, and drank some more).</p>
<p>Then, over six days in the spring of 2001, he sketched out his vision for a show about the staff of a boutique advertising agency — Sterling Cooper — and its stylishly debauched head pitchman. Nobody bought the script, but it landed Weiner a 45-minute call from&nbsp;<strong>David Chase</strong>, who hired him as a writer on HBO's&nbsp;<em>The Sopranos</em>.</p>
<p>Weiner's Madison Avenue opus sat in a drawer for another three years — until a cable network with zero experience in original scripted programming (formerly American Movie Classics) stepped in and self-financed a pilot. Today, nine years later,&nbsp;<em>Mad Men</em>, which on April 5 begins its final seven episodes, is a pop cultural phenomenon that not only has made stars out of its cast of unknowns —&nbsp;<strong>Jon Hamm, Christina Hendricks, January Jones, Vincent Kartheiser, Elisabeth Moss&nbsp;</strong>and<strong>&nbsp;John Slattery</strong>&nbsp;— but also transformed AMC into one of the most influential networks on the dial and set off cable TV's gold rush for scripted dramas.</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5500a3066da8113b3482c541-1200-600/matthew-weiner-mad-men-5.jpg" border="0" alt="Matthew Weiner, Mad Men"></p>
<p><strong>'WHO THE F— IS AMC?'</strong><br><em>In 2001, Matthew Weiner writes his first&nbsp;</em>Mad Men<em>&nbsp;script, which goes nowhere until 2005, when AMC decides to shop for its first original scripted series.</em></p>
<p><strong>Matthew Weiner (creator)</strong>&nbsp;I finished the script and sent it to my agents. They didn't read it for three or four months. (They're not my agents anymore.) I was advised not to send it anywhere because that was at a time when there were big overall deals for comedy writers. People would pay for the anticipation of what your project would be, and actually having one was going to hurt you. I kept trying to get into HBO, but I never got a meeting. And I met with FX, which&nbsp;<strong>Kevin Reilly&nbsp;</strong>was running at that time. He talked to me about making it into a half‑hour. Then people started talking to me about a feature. It was my manager's assistant who gave AMC the script. That's who they were pawned off on.</p>
<p><strong>Rob Sorcher (former executive vp programming and production, AMC)</strong>&nbsp;I'd relocated to the East Coast, and I'm working at this network, AMC, that has a collection of shit-ass movies. It's like the lesser TCM, and I'm supposed to turn it into something. [What the network needed was] a show for cable operator retention. You want something that can't be replicated elsewhere — like a<em>Sopranos</em>&nbsp;— because if you have a signature show, then you won't be dropped [by cable operators]. So your strategy becomes: Let's go for quality. But we have no money. So I hire&nbsp;<strong>Christina Wayne</strong>, who's never done a thing in her life in terms of an executive.</p>
<p><strong>Christina Wayne (former senior vp scripted programming, AMC)</strong>&nbsp;Years earlier, I'd wanted to option&nbsp;<em>Revolutionary Road</em>&nbsp;[<strong>Richard Yates</strong>' novel about suburbia in the 1960s]. But I was a nobody screenwriter, and [Yates' estate] held out for bigger fish, which they got with&nbsp;<strong>Sam Mendes</strong>. So when I read [the&nbsp;<em>Mad Men&nbsp;</em>script], it resonated with me. This was a way to do&nbsp;<em>Revolutionary Road</em>, week in, week out. When we had lunch with Matt for the first time, I gave him the book. He called me after and said, "Thank God I'd never read this because I never would have written&nbsp;<em>Mad Men</em>."</p>
<p><strong>Weiner</strong>&nbsp;[My agents] were like, "You're going to be coming off&nbsp;<em>The Sopranos</em>. I know you love this project, but don't go [to AMC]. It's really low status, no money, and even if they do it, they've never made a show before, and you don't want to be their first one."</p>
<p><strong>Sorcher</strong>&nbsp;Every possible reason on paper why this should not work was cited: It's super slow, it's [about] advertising, everybody smokes, everybody's unlikable and it's period. We couldn't sell it.</p>
<p><strong>Jeremy Elice (former vp original programming, AMC)&nbsp;</strong>We sent it out looking for potential partners and got some nice responses, but generally speaking it was, "Yeah, not for us," and "Who the f— is AMC?"</p>
<p><strong>Wayne</strong>&nbsp;So we self-financed the whole thing ourselves. The pilot cost $3.3 million, and we did it in New York in the downtime when&nbsp;<em>Sopranos</em>&nbsp;was [on hiatus]. We used all of their crew.</p>
<p><strong>JANUARY JONES AS … PEGGY?</strong><br><em>Casting for the pilot begins in 2006. Weiner and AMC agree on hiring unknown actors.</em></p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5500aa3169bedd347d6f3b2a-1200-600/madmencastseason5-1.jpg" border="0" alt="madmencastseason5" style="color: #000000;"></p>
<p><strong>Weiner&nbsp;</strong>There were famous people who came in to read. The guys from&nbsp;<em>That '70s Show</em>&nbsp;came in — not Ashton, but the other guys. I'm still impressed by&nbsp;<strong>Danny Masterson</strong>. But at a certain point, it was working against them. My theory was that&nbsp;<em>The Sopranos</em>&nbsp;casting was great because you didn't know who any of those people were.</p>
<p><strong>Jon Hamm (Don Draper):</strong></p>
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/55033aa66da811f3048b4567-1200-600/jon-hamm-don-draper-season-7-episode-1-7.jpg" border="0" alt="jon hamm don draper season 7 episode 1" style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #000000;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Some people went in once and got cast; there was a little more reticence with me. I was on the bottom of everyone's list. The one person who was an early champion of mine was Matthew.</span></p>
<p><strong>Weiner</strong>&nbsp;Back in [2006], there were no handsome leading men. It was not the style. Not that&nbsp;<strong>Jim&nbsp;</strong><strong>Gandolfini</strong>'s not handsome, but he's not Jon Hamm. There are moments in time when it's&nbsp;<strong>Dustin Hoffman</strong>&nbsp;and moments in time when it's&nbsp;<strong>Robert Redford</strong>. It was a Dustin Hoffman era. People like me or&nbsp;<strong>Seth Rogen</strong>&nbsp;got the girl, and people like&nbsp;<strong>Bradley Cooper&nbsp;</strong>were standing on the side of the street being like, "Come on!"</p>
<p><strong>Wayn</strong><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">e</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;Matt sent us two actors: Jon Hamm and&nbsp;</span><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Mariska&nbsp;</strong><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Hargitay</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">'s husband,</span><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;Peter Hermann</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">. The quality of the [video] that we were using sucked, and you couldn't see how good-looking Jon Hamm was. We were like, "Really, this is who you think?" And Matt said, "Absolutely." He'd been in the room, and he felt something with Jon. We had him come in again. We had to be sold, so we flew Jon to New York and took him for a drink at the Gansevoort hotel. He was nervous, but I knew that he had star potential. I whispered in his ear before he left, "You got the job."</span></p>
<p><strong>Elisabeth Moss (Peggy Olson):</strong></p>
<p><strong><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/550343516bb3f74a2f8b4568-1200-600/peggy-olson-mad-men-7.jpg" border="0" alt="Peggy Olson, Mad Men"></strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">I was the first person to audition for Peggy. Matt showed us all our audition tapes at a gathering, and it's hilarious because I don't look anything like Peggy [in the tape]. I'm 23, blond, tan. I look like I just walked off of the beach.</span></p>
<p><strong>John Slattery (Roger Sterling):</strong></p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/55033c33ecad04640c8b4567-1200-600/roger-sterling-john-slattery-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Roger Sterling John Slattery" style="color: #000000;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">I went in to read for Don; they wanted me to play Roger. Matt Weiner claims I was in a bad mood the whole [pilot]. I had a couple of scenes, but I wasn't as emotionally invested as some of the people because there wasn't that much of Roger in evidence yet. Being a selfish actor, I didn't necessarily see the full potential in the beginning.</span></p>
<p><strong>Christina Hendricks (Joan Holloway):</strong></p>
<p><strong><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/55033c83eab8eaf50e8b4569-750-375/christina-hendricks-joan-mad-men-5.png" border="0" alt="Christina Hendricks Joan Mad Men "></strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">I was up for another pilot, and I chose&nbsp;</span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">Mad Men</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">. The [agency I was with] was like, "It's on AMC, it's a period piece, it's never going to go. Are you crazy? You're not going to make money for us …" I thought it was a little impatient of them. So I moved on.</span></p>
<p><strong>January Jones (Betty Draper):</strong></p>
<p><strong><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/55033ccb6da81102138b4567-1200-600/betty-draper-january-jones-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Betty Draper January Jones"></strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">I came in for Peggy twice. Matt said, "Well, there's another role, but I don't really know what's going to happen with her." He didn't have any scenes for me, so he quickly wrote a couple.</span></p>
<p><strong>Weiner</strong>&nbsp;It had been years since I wrote anything in the pilot. And all of sudden, I need a scene by tomorrow for a character who only has three lines.</p>
<p><strong>Vincent Kartheiser (Pete Campbell):</strong></p>
<p><strong><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/55033cffecad0453108b4567-1200-600/pete-campbell-2.jpg" border="0" alt="Pete Campbell"></strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">I only auditioned for Pete. My agents aren't delusional enough to think that I'm a Don Draper.</span></p>
<p><strong>Alison Brie (Trudy Campbell):</strong></p>
<p><strong><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/55033d2669bedd1b218b4567-620-310/alison-brie-mad-men.jpg" border="0" alt="Alison Brie Mad Men" width="1200"></strong></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">I looked up a picture of Vincent Kartheiser and was like, "Oh my God. We kind of look like brother and sister. I could totally be his 1960s wife." Couples kind of looked alike then.</span></p>
<p><strong>Weiner</strong>&nbsp;Alison Brie was a big lesson because we couldn’t afford to make her a series regular. And we gambled [<em>Community</em>] wouldn’t happen. We were wrong.</p>
<p><strong>HOW DICK BECAME DON</strong><br><em>Weiner shoots the pilot on location in New York in 2006, but AMC struggles initially to line up financing.</em></p>
<p><em><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5503445e6bb3f7b4388b456c-1136-568/don-draper-beatles-2.png" border="0" alt="Don Draper, Beatles"></em><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Sorcher</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;Matt had an extremely clear vision for the show. We had only one or two notes that were key.</span></p>
<p><strong>Wayne</strong>&nbsp;We said to Matt, "OK, this is a great show about advertising, but what are people going to talk about week in, week out? What's the bigger story for Don?" He went off, and a few months later he came back and pitched the entire Dick Whitman/Don Draper story. We were mesmerized.</p>
<p><strong>Weiner&nbsp;</strong>So I told [AMC] I had this 85-page screenplay that was Don Draper's backstory. It was called&nbsp;<em>The Horseshoe</em>, and I abandoned it five years before I wrote&nbsp;<em>Mad Men</em>. The last scene is this character taking Don's name and leaving his [dead] body at a train station.</p>
<p><strong>Hamm</strong>&nbsp;I remember Matthew asking me before we started shooting the pilot, "Do you want to know Don's backstory?" I'd say, "Do you want to tell me?" He told me the back-and-forth of Dick Whitman and Don Draper, and I was like, "Jeez, that sounds Dickensian."</p>
<p><strong>Scott Hornbacher (executive producer)&nbsp;</strong>I knew Matt from&nbsp;<em>Sopranos</em>. I think part of the reason that I ended up being hired was because they had very little money for the pilot, and I had a background in independent film. If you take the end of&nbsp;<em>Sopranos</em>&nbsp;and put it up to our first season, I'd say we had about a quarter of [their budget].</p>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5500ae8069bedde50e6f3b2a-1200-924/dick-whitman-mad-men-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Dick Whitman Mad Men"></p>
<p><strong>Ellen Freund</strong>&nbsp;<strong>(property master)</strong>&nbsp;Matthew is so specific and cares so much about every tiny element, starting with the insides of drawers and wallets. You never, ever went to Matt with a mixing bowl and said, "Here's the mixing bowl." You'd go to him with a mixing bowl and the proof that it was made in the year previous to the year we were shooting in. Sometimes he'd say something like, "Get me the mixing bowls with the clear bottom." And I'd go, "Nuh-uh … not until 1972."</p>
<p><strong>Dan Bishop (production designer)&nbsp;</strong>Sometimes we'd get to a point where Matt would essentially throw a hand grenade in the process —&nbsp;one element would have to be this way and not that way. As long as the carpenter hadn't built it already, it was OK.</p>
<p>MMoss The pilot took two weeks. I remember standing on the rooftop of Silver Cup Studios with Matt and we just looked at each other, "Well, that was really great." We had no idea if it was going to go any further than that.</p>
<p><strong>Elice</strong>&nbsp;The question became, "How do we pay for it?" At the time, there wasn't any notion to having us produce it. I went all over town and screened it for everyone. The response was, "Wow, this is a really great pilot. How much does it cost?" For a basic cable show, your frame of reference then was&nbsp;<em>The Shield</em>&nbsp;and USA shows. [<em>Mad Men</em>] was much more expensive. A lot of studios were primarily concerned about financing a show that, even if it’s f—ing great, no one’s going to see it.</p>
<p><strong>Sandra Stern (COO, Lionsgate TV)</strong>&nbsp;One Saturday I get a phone call from&nbsp;<strong>Alan Rautbort</strong>, who was an agent at ICM at the time: "I'm coming over." He brought a DVD of the pilot to my house. I looked at him and said, "Shit. This is so good, I have to have it." I went to New York the next day and met with AMC.</p>
<p><strong>Charlie Collier (president, AMC)</strong>&nbsp;I got here in September 2006, and we didn't launch until July 2007. We were waiting for Matt to finish&nbsp;<em>The Sopranos</em>, so the next 10 or 11 months we had one show to focus on. Even the decision to get to that poster — the image with the silhouette of a building and Helvetica "Mad Men" — was hard. We'd flown Jon out for a photo shoot, and we had some beautiful imagery that was originally conceived to be poster art. It eventually ended up in our mailers.</p>
<p><strong>Linda Schupack (executive vp marketing, AMC)&nbsp;</strong>[The photo] made the show feel too melodramatic. That's when we looked to the title sequence. Once we saw that final frame, the back of Don Draper's head, we knew that's what we wanted to sell.</p>
<p><strong>Weiner</strong>&nbsp;I remember reading the first review. It was&nbsp;<em>LA Weekly</em>. I printed it out and took it down the hall to [pilot DP]&nbsp;<strong>Phil Abraham</strong>. It was, like, three in the morning, and we just stood there: "Holy shit, they like us."</p>
<p><strong>Ed Carroll (COO, AMC Networks)&nbsp;</strong>I remember going to advertising agencies to try to convince them that AMC would have the don't-miss show of the season. They all said, "I'm not ready to commit money to it, but I sure would like to see it. Could you get me a screener?"</p>
<p><strong>A DOG NAMED DRAPER</strong><br><em>With production having moved to Los Angeles,&nbsp;</em>Mad Men<em>&nbsp;premieres July 19, 2007, to critical acclaim but faces an uphill ratings battle and an uncertain future.</em></p>
<p><em><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/55033da869bedd9f218b4567-768-384/madmen-cast-2.jpeg" border="0" alt="madmen cast"></em><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Kevin Beggs (chairman, Lionsgate TV)</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;Early on, I was nervous about the pace. It's very deliberate, extended storytelling, and I've grown up watching and then developing and selling things that move fast and drive action. I remember so vividly having a conversation along those lines, and Matt saying, "That's&nbsp;</span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">exactly</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;the opposite of what I'm going to do. I'm going to parse the story out slowly and savor it and not overload."</span></p>
<p><strong>Weiner&nbsp;</strong>Most of the fighting came on episode two. They were really annoyed that I was paying attention to [Betty]. I wanted to branch the show out, and I felt that if Don was cheating on this woman, that was the story. They just wanted it to be a formula in the office.</p>
<p><strong>Jones</strong>&nbsp;I was shielded from all of the "We don't care about Betty."&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Kartheiser</strong>&nbsp;If you looked around at what was on TV then, there was nothing like this. I would piss the guys off, like, "This is cool, this is great, but [it can't last]. You should start looking for another job!" I remember&nbsp;<strong>Rich Sommer&nbsp;</strong>[who played Harry Crane] would be like, "F— you, I just moved to L.A. with my pregnant wife."</p>
<p><strong>Wayne&nbsp;</strong>My biggest argument with Matt was on the ending of season one: Don coming home and telling Betty he couldn't go to Thanksgiving. He'd written it that Don comes home, hugs Betty, and they drive off into the sunset. But that ties the show up with a bow, and we had to do season two. He got so mad he hung up, but he called back and said: "You're right. I just love my characters so much, I wanted them to be happy."</p>
<p><strong>Moss</strong>&nbsp;Because it started airing while we were&nbsp;<em>still&nbsp;</em>shooting, it felt like we were doing it by ourselves in a vacuum. But then the following January, Jon and the show won the Golden Globe. That was the first moment where we were like, "Oh my God, people are watching!"</p>
<p><strong>Hendricks&nbsp;</strong>It was during the writers strike, so there was no [Globes] ceremony. We all watched it from the Chateau Marmont and we just sat there with our mouths agape. The Emmys were the next thing up.</p>
<p><strong>Weiner</strong>&nbsp;We had to work behind the scenes to just get an evening [screening] at the [Academy of Television Arts &amp; Sciences] because they did not want to let basic cable into that. We weren’t really on TV.</p>
<p><strong>Carroll</strong>&nbsp;The ratings were building slowly. Then, early on, I was paging through the Sunday&nbsp;<em>New York Times</em>&nbsp;and there were either full articles or references to&nbsp;<em>Mad Men&nbsp;</em>in the fashion page, the arts page, the media page and the metro page. The show was wrapping itself around the culture.</p>
<p><strong>Josh Sapan (CEO, AMC Networks)&nbsp;</strong>When I found out that a guy I know named his dog Don Draper, I said to myself, "I think we've arrived."</p>
<p><strong>WEINER NEARLY WALKS</strong><br><em>Instead, in March 2011, he takes home $30 million for a three-season contract after negotiations with AMC and Lionsgate sideline the network flagship for more than a year.</em></p>
<p><em><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/55033eec6da811fe1c8b4567-1200-600/matthew-weiner-mad-men-8.jpg" border="0" alt="Matthew Weiner Mad Men"></em><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Weiner</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;AMC had waited a very, very long time [to renew the show for a second season]. I remember seeing them at the [2007] Emmys and, with an Emmy in my hand from&nbsp;</span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">The Sopranos</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, yelling at everybody from AMC, "You don't want&nbsp;</span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">Mad Men</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">? Let it go." I knew there was a really good chance the show could end up on HBO. After season four — and our fourth Emmy in a row — my contract expired again [in late 2010]. Nobody from AMC or Lionsgate would talk to me.&nbsp;</span><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Bryan Lourd</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;[at CAA] got involved. He said, "Don't worry about it." Cut to six months later, and it's, "I've never seen anything like this in my life." They came in with a very low offer and stipulations about cutting time and adding commercials, getting rid of 30 percent of the cast. I was like, "No to all that." They kept offering me more money to take those things, and I kept saying, "No, this is not about money."</span></p>
<p><strong>Beggs</strong>&nbsp;Part of the business of making shows is figuring out how to quantify a value and who pays for what. Sometimes it's a little painful.</p>
<p><strong>Hendricks</strong>&nbsp;At one point I thought, "This is taking a little&nbsp;<em>too</em>&nbsp;long."</p>
<p><strong>Moss</strong>&nbsp;I remember thinking there was a legitimate chance that we weren't going to go back. I think I can speak for all of us when I say we didn't want to go back without Matt. We privately made that known to him.</p>
<p><strong>Weiner</strong>&nbsp;I had conversations with&nbsp;<strong>Aaron Sorkin</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>Steven Bochco</strong>&nbsp;and David Chase about what it was going to be like if they took [the show] away and how I was going to live. They'd all been in this situation, and Aaron really talked about what it's going to be like for someone else to run your show: "Don't ever watch it."</p>
<p><strong>Stern</strong>&nbsp;When we first started negotiating with AMC, one of the things they wanted was a spinoff. We talked about doing a contemporary one. Given the fact that [<em>Mad Men</em>] ends nearly 50 years ago, most of the characters would be dead. Sally was the one character young enough that you could see her 30 or 40 years later. There was a time we wanted a Peggy spin­off, too, and, a la&nbsp;<em>Better Call Saul,</em>&nbsp;a minor character going off to L.A. Matt wasn't comfortable committing to a spinoff.</p>
<p><strong>Collier</strong>&nbsp;We entered into the negotiation and left the negotiation with an aligned goal, which was to get Matthew Weiner to the end of&nbsp;<em>Mad Men</em>.</p>
<p><strong>Weiner</strong>&nbsp;Being off the air that long was bad for us. I felt that the show was damaged — its prestige was damaged.</p>
<p><strong>A HANGING — AND A KISS OF DEATH</strong><br><em>Finally back on the air in 2012, Weiner makes adds (and cuts) to the cast and starts plotting an endgame.</em></p>
<p><em><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/55033f836bb3f7bf228b456a-1200-600/matthew-weiner-kiernan-shipka-janie-bryant-mad-men.jpg" border="0" alt="Matthew Weiner Kiernan Shipka Janie Bryant Mad Men"></em><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Jared Harris (Lane Pryce)</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;There was talk about cast changes, so we were all looking around, wondering who it might be. When you start going through the list, it's obvious they're not going to get rid of Jon, Slattery, Christina, January. … You start figuring out that it really comes down to a couple of people. But I didn't know [that my character was about to hang himself].</span></p>
<p><strong>Jessica Pare (Megan Draper)</strong>&nbsp;I was about to move home [to Montreal] when I got the audition for this brunette character. There was nothing on the page. But it was&nbsp;<em>Mad Men</em>, so I thought I'd give it a shot.<br>My first episode, I had only one line: "Yes, Joan." Even while we were shooting, I had no idea she was a receptionist — and because of the reputation for secrecy, I was afraid to ask. Joining a series midway can be intimidating, and I'd heard stories about how chummy the cast was.</p>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5501915969bedd0264be6485-1200-924/matthew-weiner-mad-men-7.jpg" border="0" alt="Matthew Weiner, Mad Men"></p>
<p><strong>Hendricks</strong>&nbsp;The common area [on the set] started as a piece of AstroTurf and a little glass table with four chairs, and then one year we came back and there was a full deck with a built-in fire pit and Christmas lights.</p>
<p><strong>Moss</strong>&nbsp;We never hung out in our trailers. You hear stories of people on big shows getting these massive trailers and getting interior decorators to come in and do them. We always had triple bangers, the ones where you have three rooms [for three actors] in one trailer.</p>
<p><strong>Kiernan Shipka (Sally Draper)&nbsp;</strong>When I was a bit younger, I really only knew about the Sally scenes. It wasn't until I got older that I even started going to the table reads.</p>
<p><strong>Pare</strong>&nbsp;When Megan and Don kiss for the first time, everybody on set was like, "Well, it's been great to have you around, Jessica. You'll be on your way out now." That's how things had been going. But Matt called me a few days before and told me Don was going to propose. I had a hint before that: Ellen, our props master, came into my dressing room and said, "You can’t ask me any questions about it, but I need to measure your ring finger."</p>
<p><strong>Freund</strong>&nbsp;I've never seen anyone happier than Jessica was at moment.</p>
<p><strong>Stern</strong>&nbsp;Matt and I were sitting at the table read for the last episode of season four. Don Draper had started dating a psychologist named Faye, an equal. Then, in the last episode, he runs off and he marries his young secretary. I was a little surprised, and I said to Matt, "I'm sad — I thought Don had finally pulled it together." And Matt said, "Yeah, me too. I really thought he could do it this time, but he couldn't."</p>
<p><strong>Hamm&nbsp;</strong>Obviously it's no fun to play a person who only makes the right decisions all the time, but it can be difficult to watch somebody, time and time again, who just continually makes [the same] mistakes. I think it got progressively more difficult for me. As Don’s downward spiral continued, it became kind of relentless, and that takes its toll on your psyche.</p>
<p><strong>Robert Morse (Bertram Cooper)&nbsp;</strong>Matt came to me and said, "Bobby, I got some news for you. You're gonna die." I just hoped I wasn't being hung like Jared the year before. He said, "No, no, no! We're going to do a whole show about the moon landing. You're at home, and you just pass away quietly as they land. That's your exit." Then Matt tells me, "I've always wanted you to sing, so you're going to come back as a ghost and sing to Jon Hamm, 'The Best Things in Life Are Free.' "</p>
<p><strong>THE LONG GOODBYE</strong><br><em>AMC splits the final season into two parts, with the last seven episodes airing nearly a year after it wraps in July 2014.</em></p>
<p><em><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/55033febecad049e198b4567-1200-600/mad-men-season-7-part-2-2.jpg" border="0" alt="mad men season 7 part 2"></em><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Hamm</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;Everyone went through the stages of grief: anger, frustration, sadness and then, finally, you get to acceptance. And nobody knew how it ended, so there was a lot of anxiety about that, too.</span></p>
<p><strong>Hornbacher</strong>&nbsp;It was hard. Everybody has expectations of how the show should end for them, and it wasn't necessarily going to work that way.</p>
<p><strong>Weiner</strong>&nbsp;I directed the last two episodes. So there's about eight weeks of us together, and the most intimate part of that is when you go in and ask the actor, "Are you ready to move on [to another scene]?" I'd say, "Do you want another one?" And no one ever said yes. I felt like I was running a hospice.</p>
<p><strong>Slattery</strong><strong>&nbsp;</strong>It became this succession of last days. There'd be emails sent around like, "If you're around and you want to come have a glass of champagne …" They'd wheel in a bunch of champagne and everybody would raise a glass to whomever. And Matt would say something. It was so emotional because it was the same crew for most of the show.</p>
<p><strong>Hamm</strong>&nbsp;It felt very much like the end of senior year when we were wrapping up. One of our producers made a yearbook. She separated everyone into freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors, depending upon how long you'd been involved. Everyone came in to take their class pictures. We had senior superlatives and all that stuff.</p>
<p><strong>Slattery</strong>&nbsp;I think I was "Class Flirt."</p>
<p><strong>Jones</strong>&nbsp;On the last day, we stayed until three or four in the morning and we TPd Matt's car.</p>
<p><strong>Collier&nbsp;</strong>This show transformed our network. Matt asked me to speak at the wrap party [at the Roosevelt hotel], and then Jon made some terrific remarks about how he, like Don Draper, would fall back on alcohol.</p>
<p><strong>Hamm</strong>&nbsp;It was the end of something we all really liked, but all good things come to an end. Obviously, you want people to like it and to find it satisfying. And then you just hope that somewhere down the line someone wants to cast you in something else.</p>
<p><strong>Weiner</strong>&nbsp;I remember somebody saying, "This is going to be hardest on you." And I was like, "Really? I don't think so." That just stuck in my head. First, it was the writers who just start peeling off. Then the actors are gone. Then the crew's gone and the sets are gone, and then the stages close up. All of a sudden, they're coming to take the copier. I moved out of the office in December. It was back to being me and my computer.</p>
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5500adcc6bb3f7fc79790254-1200-600/mad-men-final-season-poster.jpg" border="0" alt="Mad Men Final Season Poster" width="1200"></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/26-sexist-ads-of-the-mad-men-era-2014-5" >26 sexist ads of the 'Mad Men' era</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-oral-history-how-show-created-2015-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-final-season-trailer-don-draper-jon-hamm-amc-2015-2">The trailer for the final season of 'Mad Men' is here</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-final-season-trailer-don-draper-jon-hamm-amc-2015-2The trailer for the final season of 'Mad Men' is herehttp://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-final-season-trailer-don-draper-jon-hamm-amc-2015-2
Thu, 19 Feb 2015 22:46:00 -0500Graham Flanagan
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div class="g-ytsubscribe" data-channel="BusinessInsider" data-layout="full" data-count="default"></div>
<p>AMC just released the first trailer for the final season of <a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men" target="_blank">"Mad Men."</a> Like the teaser montages that play at the end of each episode, it doesn't tell us much. And don't get your hopes up; there's no indication as to whether or not Don Draper will make it out alive. <br><br>The new season premieres on Sunday April 5. <br><br><strong>Follow BI Video: </strong><a href="https://www.facebook.com/BusinessInsider.Video?ref=br_tf" target="_blank">on Facebook</a></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mad-men-final-season-trailer-don-draper-jon-hamm-amc-2015-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/jon-hamm-turned-down-superhero-roles-2014-12Jon Hamm Turned Down At Least Two Superhero Roleshttp://www.businessinsider.com/jon-hamm-turned-down-superhero-roles-2014-12
Wed, 17 Dec 2014 11:34:00 -0500Adam Holmes
<p><span><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/54919ddc6da8113457fd439f-1200-924/jon-hamm-don-draper-season-7-episode-1-5.jpg" border="0" alt="jon hamm don draper season 7 episode 1">From cunning businessman to suspicious law officer to&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Crisis-Confidence-Baseball-Jon-Hamm-Talks-Million-Dollar-Arm-43023.html">determined sports agent</a><span>,&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.cinemablend.com/pop/Watch-Young-Jon-Hamm-Lose-Dating-Game-Show-63212.html">Jon Hamm</a><span>&nbsp;has played a variety of roles over the years. </span></p>
<p><span>However, one role he hasn’t jumped into yet is that of a superhero - which is frankly surprising considering his rugged good looks and strong chin. With a face like that, you can definitely picture him putting on a costume and fighting evildoers. With a plethora of actors signing onto superhero films nowadays, there’s always the possibility Hamm will follow suit, right? Wrong! We probably shouldn't expect to see him to star one of these films, as he’s already turned down at least two opportunities.&nbsp;</span><br><br><span>During an interview with&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-12-12/mad-mens-jon-hamm-i-am-old-and-irrelevant">The Radio Times</a><span>, Hamm was asked whether he’d ever been offered a role in a superhero film. The actor stated that he’d been offered several, but made the "right decision" in turning them down. </span></p>
<p><span>He didn’t disclose what these parts were, but described these types of movie deals as "draconian." What specifically bothers him is being tied down to future films that haven’t been planned out. Said Hamm,&nbsp;</span></p>
<blockquote style="padding-left: 30px;">"For me to sign on now to do a superhero movie would mean I would be working until I am fifty as that particular superhero. It’s a lot of work at one thing, which is not necessarily the reason I got into the business - which is to do many things. If you want to spend all day pressing the same key that… seems an odd choice."</blockquote>
<p><span>Hamm was propelled to fame when&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.cinemablend.com/television/Mad-Men-Actress-Star-Cameron-Crowe-Show-68963.html"><em>Mad Men</em></a><span>&nbsp;debuted in mid-2007, so that’s about seven years worth of superhero movies to pick from. Judging from his comments about the lengthy contracts, I suspect that Hamm is indirectly referencing Marvel, who is notorious for signing actors to multiple movies at once. Hamm was&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Jon-Hamm-Surprised-Jon-Hamm-Has-Been-Rumored-Doctor-Strange-66892.html">rumored</a><span>&nbsp;as one of the candidates for the titular character in&nbsp;</span><em>Doctor Strange</em><span>, and before Henry Cavill was cast in&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.cinemablend.com/reviews/Man-of-Steel-6446.html"><em>Man of Steel</em></a><span>, many fans wanted him to play Superman. The Sorcerer Supreme would have been an unusual casting, but I definitely could have seen him as Superman, especially if DC and Warner Bros. had gone the&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.cinemablend.com/new/First-Look-Batman-v-Superman-Batsuit-Color-68656.html">Batfleck</a><span>-route and given us an older version of the Kryptonian.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span>From an artistic perspective, I understand his comments about wanting to act in different things. If he’s playing a superhero, it restricts what projects he’s able to take on for a long time. What would be great is if he could score a role in a superhero film that’s guaranteed to last only one movie. This would probably have to be a villainous role since most bad guys get killed off, and there have to be a stipulation in his contract that his character will not be revived in the future. That way he can briefly join in on the fun and then go along his merry his way. Unfortunately, in this genre that’s rarely a feasible option.</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-disneys-big-hero-6-shapes-superheroes-from-robotics-and-anime-2014-11" >Disney Hopes 'Big Hero 6' Can Be Its Next Big Superhero Franchise</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jon-hamm-turned-down-superhero-roles-2014-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/why-jon-hamm-just-cant-win-an-emmy-2014-8Why Jon Hamm Just Can't Win An Emmyhttp://www.businessinsider.com/why-jon-hamm-just-cant-win-an-emmy-2014-8
Tue, 26 Aug 2014 16:15:00 -0400BRENDEN GALLAGHER
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/53fcd88569bedd75178b4571-800-/don-draper-mad-men-16.jpg" border="0" alt="Don Draper, Mad Men" width="800"></p><p></p>
<p>Poor Jon Hamm. Another Emmys ceremony, another night of bitter tears. Thing is, it would've been safe to begin work on this piece 364 days ago. Even though the world didn’t know the true power of the McConaissance then, everyone did know that Bryan Cranston would be circling his last year of eligibility for his work as Walter White. Given that fact alone, Jon Hamm wouldn’t have had a prayer of being crowned for his work as Don Draper on <em>Mad Men</em>.</p>
<p>There are few sure things when it comes to the Emmys, an awards show that is reliably boring and oddly out of step with both the public and critics. You can bet that <em>Modern Family&nbsp;</em>will take home some undeserved hardware. You can rest assured that someone from the Jon Stewart's professional family will take home the award for Outstanding Variety Series. (Is there a safer bet than John Oliver taking home the award in 2015?). You know that some award will be so inexplicably tone-deaf that it'll launch a 1,000 think pieces (Jeff Daniels, really?). And of course, you know that Jon Hamm, and the rest of his <em>Mad Men </em>compatriots will go home empty-handed.</p>
<p>When the great retrospective on the golden age of television is written, Hamm’s performance will be remembered alongside the work of Cranston (three Emmys for <em>Breaking Bad</em>), Michael Chiklis (one for <em>The Shield</em>), and the late James Gandolfini (three for <em>The Sopranos</em>), and Hamm’s section will begin with the same line that begins pieces written on Dan Marino, Ken Griffey, Jr., and Charles Barkley: Why couldn’t he win the big one?</p>
<p>It's tempting to pin Hamm’s Emmy drought on one big thing, and every TV geek has their favorite narrative. Blame it on Cranston. Blame it <em>Mad Men’s</em> lack of excitement/fun. Blame it on luck or fate. As with most things, there's more than one force at play; there is no simple answer. A combination of factors have coalesced to leave Don Draper winless. Let’s take a look at them and try to figure out Why Jon Hamm Can't Win An Emmy.</p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/53fcce91eab8eac2308b4569-1200-600/bryan-cranston-tear-emmy-2.png" border="0" alt="bryan cranston tear emmy" width="800"></p>
<h3>1. Because Bryan Cranston</h3>
<p>This is the sexy narrative: the Michael Jordan Rule. How would we have looked at Barkley, Malone, Ewing, Miller and the rest if there had been no Jordan? If <em>Breaking Bad</em> had come along a few years earlier (or later), would Hamm's trophy case be full? There's no denying Bryan Cranston is a contributing factor to Hamm’s losing streak: same network, same anti-hero trappings, same prestige. The facts are on the table: Cranston, for his performance as Walter White on <em>Breaking Bad,</em> defeated Hamm for three consecutive years from 2008 and 2010.</p>
<p>You'll note that this still leaves the next three years of victories, by Kyle Chandler, Damien Lewis, and Jeff Daniels, respectively, unexplained. That's not entirely true. Emmy ballots are weighted on placement, so a first place vote is worth more than a second place vote, and so on down the line. Most highbrow TV lovers will agree that the audience for <em>Mad Men</em> enjoys a good bit of overlap with <em>Breaking Bad</em>. It's hard to imagine that even in a a year that Cranston didn't win, he didn't push Hamm further down the ballot. This means less first place votes for Hamm whenever he's in the field. The Jeff Daniels Emmy makes a little more sense now, doesn't it?</p>
<p>This just leaves the issue of Kyle Chandler’s win for <em>Friday Night Lights</em>in 2011, when Cranston wasn’t eligible. You could make the argument that Cranston’s ghost lingered here, as Chandler’s Emmy was widely acknowledged as a nod to his body of work on the show rather than for the strength of season five. Chandler had been hosed by Cranston for years as well, and the Academy decided to send him off into the sunset with some hardware. Speaking as a die-hard Dillon Panther homer, I still have trouble with the idea that Chandler did better work in “Always” than Hamm did in “The Suitcase.”</p>
<p>As the Emmy ballots are secret, this theory is attractive but hard to prove. And yes, I’ll admit that blaming the loss to Chandler on Cranston’s ghost feels a bit more like a fun narrative than a compelling argument. Let's look at some other factors.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/53f66e41eab8eafb2c84938b-1200-600/matthew-mcconaughey-lincoln-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Matthew-McConaughey-Lincoln" width="800"></p>
<h3>2. Because Matthew McConaughey</h3>
<p>There are two prominent narratives among Drama Emmy winners. Generally, the winner is either a movie star that the television folks feel the need to thank for condescending to the small screen (Jeff Daniels, Kiefer Sutherland, Mandy Patinkin, Christopher Lloyd, James Earl Jones) or a longtime TV veteran for whom it's “their turn” (Cranston, Chandler, Chiklis, Dennis Franz).</p>
<p>It's odd to think about now that Hamm has an obligatory guest spot on every comedy that gets greenlit, but prior to <em>Mad Men</em>, Hamm was a relative unknown. Short-lived shows like <em>Providence&nbsp;</em>and <em>The Division</em> coupled with one-off guest spots on <em>Ally McBeal</em> and&nbsp;<em>Gilmore Girls</em> comprise most of Hamm’s pre-<em>Mad Men </em>IMDB page. The problem with laboring in obscurity is that no one sees you do it, and the Academy doesn’t realize the dues you’ve actually paid.</p>
<p>However, there's precedent for relative unknowns taking home Emmy gold: James Gandolfini. His pre-<em>Sopranos </em>work in <em>Get Shorty </em>and as “Henchman (Uncredited)” in <em>The Last Boy Scout</em> hardly qualified him for movie-star status. Gandolfini, it seems, may have been the exception that proves the rule.</p>
<h3>3. Because Emmy Voters Are Programmed to Be Lazy</h3>
<p>When trying to make sense of Emmy wins, you have to remember that performers are nominated for an episode, and not for the entire season. Not only are many voters unfamiliar with the rest of an actor's work on a show, they're actively encouraged to ignore it. One Emmy voter <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/24/arts/television/emmy-voters-talk-about-sizing-up-the-nominees.html?_r=0" target="_blank">recently told the <em>New York Times</em></a>, "You’re supposed to just vote on specific episodes. But if you’re familiar with it, and you know the work on it is consistent, it’s hard not to think of the entire series itself.”</p>
<p>The problem is, voters won't be thinking of the entire series if they haven't seen it. The Academy is made up of industry professionals. Their job is to make television, not to watch it. While you often see understated, low-buzz performances win at the Television Critics Association Awards, an Emmy win usually requires a thrilling episode that holds up sans context. An episode of <em>Mad Men</em> is rarely high-octane. Even the most intense episodes don't come close to the most thrilling installments of <em>Breaking Bad</em> or <em>Homeland</em>. The show just isn’t built that way. Though there's no denying that Hamm’s performance is superb, it may not stick in your mind if you’ve seen your first and only <em>Mad Men&nbsp;</em>episode sandwiched between <em>Breaking Bad’s </em>“Ozymandias” and <em>True Detective’s</em> “Form and Void.”</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/514b1ddd69beddce59000018-1200-600/mad-men-cast-2013-1.png" border="0" alt="Mad Men Cast 2013" width="800"></p>
<h3>4. Because Peggy Olsen (and Joan and Roger and Pete and Wow This Cast Is Stacked)</h3>
<p>Even though Don Draper is the central character on <em>Mad Men</em>, the show functions as more of an ensemble effort than its peers in white male anti-herodom. There are far fewer scenes in <em>Breaking Bad</em> without Walter White or scenes in <em>The Newsroom</em> without Jeff Daniels than there are <em>Mad Men </em>scenes that go on without Don Draper. Since Betty and Don have split, January Jones has been given largely Don-free arcs. As SCDP employees move in and out of the company, Don drifts in and out of focus. Not only do single episodes of <em>Mad Men </em>lack the firepower to stand out in the Emmy field, but often Hamm’s best performances come in episodes where he doesn’t have the lion’s share of the screen time.</p>
<h3>5. Because These Billboards Are Not Loyal</h3>
<p>You'll notice that Mad Men billboards doesn't feature Jon Hamm, and that's exactly the point. Networks lobby extensively for their shows and performers during Emmy season. Over the last few years, AMC has had an embarrassment of riches. Nominations for <em>Breaking Bad</em> and <em>Mad Men</em> have meant nods for much of the cast. Many networks only have to focus on one award-caliber show, as is the case for Netflix and <em>Orange is the New Black</em> (#sorrynotsorry <em>House of Cards</em>) and has been the case for <em>Homeland </em>on Showtime.</p>
<p>Often, shows will only have one nominated actor to support; <em>The Big Bang Theory, </em>for example, is Jim Parsons' Emmy train, and everyone else is just overacting on it. In 2013, Hamm was one of nine AMC actors nominated for awards, between <em>Breaking Bad </em>and <em>Mad Men</em>. Even if Hamm is a primary focus of AMC awards boosters, he still has to split billboard space and puff-piece time with the rest of the AMC stable.</p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/53fcd39eecad041c1a8b4567-987-493/million-dollar-arm-jon-hamm-1.jpg" border="0" alt="million dollar arm jon hamm" width="800"></p>
<h3>6. Because Handsome</h3>
<p>Sexy men don’t win Emmys. Though an argument can be made for Kiefer Sutherland and Kyle Chander’s DILF status, Jeff Daniels, Cranston, Gandolfini, Dennis Franz, and James Spader weren’t up for modeling contracts during their Emmy runs.</p>
<p>The field is generally made up of aging white men, so it’s not exactly easy to find sex appeal in the category, but the hottest nominees of the last ten years: Peter Krause, Christopher Meloni, Matthew Fox, and Timothy Olyphant all lost. Scoff if you will, but there seems to be a trend here. We like our movie stars sexy and our television heroes looking like everymen. If everyman looked liked John Hamm, he’d have a lot easier time meeting girls at the bar.</p>
<p>And note, this rule does not apply to movie stars. If movie stars come to TV, they get the nomination and probably win. We all know that McConaughey is handsome. I mean, have you seen <em>Surfer, Dude</em>?</p>
<h3>7. Because There's Always Next Year (But Only Next Year...)</h3>
<p>One thing that Jon Hamm has going for him: the guilt the Academy has built up after snubbing him for years. Kyle Chandler capitalized on this when he won his Emmy for the final season of <em>Friday Night Lights</em>. Next year will be Hamm's final year of <em>Mad Men </em>eligibility, so we'll see if he can pull a Coach Taylor and tug at Academy heartstrings.</p>
<p><em>Mad Men</em> fans probably shouldn't get their hopes up. Though it's common for actors to win "body of work" awards following several different memorable roles, rarely is an actor awarded the drama statue in the final season of their show following a prolonged drought. Only Chandler, James Spader (<em>The Practice, </em>2004), and Andre Brougher (<em>Homicide: Life on the Street, </em>1998) have brought home Emmys late in their series run after a winless streak.</p>
<h3>8. Because of the Dennis Franz Rule</h3>
<p>Since 1983, the Best Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Emmy has gone to an actor in the Outstanding Series winner only three times: <em>Picket Fences</em> (1993), <em>24 </em>(2006), and <em>Homeland </em>(2012). Once a decade does not make for great odds. <em>Mad Men</em> won the Outstanding Series award for four straight years (2008-2011), which may have hurt Hamm. This trend becomes more compelling when you consider the overlap between shows and actors awarded during the series run, just not in the same year.</p>
<p>Bryan Cranston won an Emmy as Walter White, just not in the same year <em>Breaking Bad </em>won. The year <em>The Sopranos </em>finally won Outstanding Series, James Spader was awarded the acting Emmy for&nbsp;<em>Boston Legal</em>. Dennis Franz won four Emmys, but lost to Mandy Patinkin in 1995 when <em>NYPD Blue</em> finally won for Outstanding Series. Even actors deemed to be deserving of the award have trouble bringing home the Emmy in a year that their series takes home the grand prize.</p>
<p><em>Note: This "rule" isn't really Dennis Franz's fault. It's just funny to use his name as often as possible. Because it makes you picture his butt.</em></p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/53fcd44d69bedd46088b456b-1200-600/don-draper-mad-men-14.jpg" border="0" alt="Don Draper, Mad Men" width="800"></p>
<h3>9. Because It's a Cold, Terrible World</h3>
<p>Matthew Weiner knows that everything is awful, just like Don. Draper is the main character on <em>Mad Men</em>, but he doesn't have the main character moments that his peers are handed with regularity. There have been great moments in Draper's history—how many times have you dropped "But that's what the money's for!" in casual conversation?—but they're rarely explosive.</p>
<p>Draper's arc has been a slow, painful float down river, and there is nothing sexy about a self-destructive alcoholic, even if that alcoholic happens to be sexy. Draper has never had a bomb strapped to his chest. He's never had an "I am the one who knocks!" speech. He's never gathered the SCDP team together in the board room and intoned with more earnestness than mere mortals can muster, "Clear Eyes. Full Hearts. Can't lose." Even Draper's predecessor, Tony Soprano, could be relied upon to take a baseball bat or shotgun to a family member in between therapy sessions.</p>
<p>What has made Don Draper an unforgettable character may be exactly what has made John Hamm an unawardable actor. Draper's journey is so deeply flawed and so deeply human. We want our TV characters to go out with a bang, not a whimper. The ones who go quietly and drunkenly into the night remind us too much of ourselves. And what kind of person would give themselves an award?*</p>
<p>*An a--hole. So maybe it's better that Hamm doesn't win? ...Nah. Nope.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/breaking-bad-emmys-2014-8" >'Breaking Bad' Completely Dominated The Emmys</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-jon-hamm-just-cant-win-an-emmy-2014-8#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/10-of-the-worlds-greatest-late-bloomers-2014-510 Of The World's Greatest Late Bloomershttp://www.businessinsider.com/10-of-the-worlds-greatest-late-bloomers-2014-5
Fri, 16 May 2014 06:47:00 -0400Andrew Lowry
<p><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/534472e3eab8ea0e0c0d57fb-1200-800/jon hamm-don-draper.jpg" border="0" alt="jon hamm don draper season 7 episode 1" />Patience, as your mom told you, is a virtue &ndash; but some people have to wait longer than others for success to come. After all, who wants to be some burnout in their early thirties, their best years behind them?</span></p>
<p>Join us, then, as we bide our time, and run you through some of the greatest late bloomers of this world&hellip;</p>
<p><strong><em>Bryan Cranston</em></strong></p>
<p>The star of the new Godzilla has established himself as a god of screens both big and small &ndash; but it wasn&rsquo;t always so. His first prominent role came in 1994, as a recurring dentist in classic sitcom Seinfeld, when he was 38. Prior to this, Cranston had paid his dues in decades of roles on daytime soaps and English dubs of foreign animation, as well as such Troy McClure-esque films such as Amazon Women on the Moon and I Know My First Name is Steven.</p>
<p>Like any jobbing actor worth his salt, Cranston also appeared in the odd TV commercial. Here he is, selling haemorrhoid cream...</p>
<p><strong><em>Colonel Sanders</em></strong></p>
<p>The KFC founder &ndash; Christian name Harland &ndash; first franchised the name that would become a global fast food brand in 1952, when he was all of 62-years old. Before that, he was worked as a railroad laborer, and managed companies that offered ferry services and acetylene lamps, until eventually running a motel. There, his fried chicken proved popular -but it was still 12 years before his secret recipe was sold in more than one place.</p>
<p><strong><em>Anton Bruckner</em></strong></p>
<p>In stark contrast to the Mozarts of this world, who were wheeled before emperors when barely able to reach the keys of a piano, Austrian composer Anton Bruckner didn&rsquo;t write his first symphony until he was 41. Before then, he worked as a teacher and organist, spending much of his thirties as a devout student of music.</p>
<p><strong><em>James Murphy</em></strong></p>
<p>In contemporary music, LCD Soundsystem kingpin James Murphy was 32 when his band first got any attention, and 35 on the release of their first album &ndash; positively antediluvian in dance music circles. He&rsquo;d been in bands before, but had made his living from being a sound engineer, and ultimately ran his own record label.</p>
<p>In an odd echo of Bryan Cranston&rsquo;s career, Murphy was offered a writing job on Seinfeld, but turned it down.</p>
<p><strong><em>Vivienne Westwood</em></strong></p>
<p>The legendary fashion designer spent the Sixties as a primary school teacher, selling jewelery on Portobello Road at the weekend. She finally stopped teaching in 1971, at the age of 30, when she and Malcolm McLaren opened their boutique Sex on the King&rsquo;s Road, but her designs did not achieve nationwide recognition until the McLaren-managed Sex Pistols exploded into fame in 1976.</p>
<p><strong><em>Kenneth Grahame</em></strong></p>
<p>Although he had had some success before it, it was The Wind in the Willows that marked the true breakthrough in Grahame&rsquo;s writing &ndash; even though it was turned down by almost every publisher it was sent to. The book was first read in 1908, when he was 49 &ndash; and had recently retired from a senior position at the Bank of England. They allotted him a &pound;400 pension, far less than the &pound;710 he was entitled to.</p>
<p><strong><em>Jon Hamm</em></strong></p>
<p>He&rsquo;s already part of television history, but the suave Mad Men star was still working as a waiter when he was 29, and was 36 when he was cast in the role that would make him a star. Hamm had previously been dropped by his first agent, and worked in the art department on softcore porn films.</p>
<p><strong><em>David Sedaris</em></strong></p>
<p>The American essayist and humorist dabbled in art in his twenties, but his career didn&rsquo;t take off until radio producer Ira Glass heard him reading from a childhood diary in a club in 1992 &ndash; when he was 36. This led to appearances on public radio, and the subsequent publication of his first collection of essays and stories in 1994.</p>
<p><strong><em>JK Rowling</em></strong></p>
<p>The Harry Potter creator finished her first book in 1995, at the age of 30 &ndash; but it wasn&rsquo;t until 1998 that the series showed signs of becoming the phenomenon it would, when the US rights were sold for a vast sum. Prior to her success, Rowling worked abroad as an English teacher, and spent a period after her divorce on income support. She is now worth over $1 billion.</p>
<p><strong><em>Rickie Lambert</em></strong></p>
<p>Sport can be particularly unforgiving when it comes to age &ndash; there&rsquo;s only so long knees and ankles can hold out against the pressures of hardcore training. So it's heartening to read the story of one Rickie Lambert, who played for Blackpool, Stockport County and Rochdale (among others) before getting a shot at the Premier League big time with Southampton at the ripe old age of 31. In two seasons of top flight football, Lambert has scored 28 goals, and will travel to Brazil this summer as part of the England squad. Bravo.</p>
<p><img class="nc_pixel" src="https://pixel.newscred.com/px.gif?key=YXJ0aWNsZT1mNTBhZTM3MmVhMzgxZGExN2U0ZTM0NTViYTFmYjllMiZub25jZT1kZWFjZDc5ZC05MzJjLTRiNzktYTRhMC1lMDBiODYzZDk0NjUmcHVibGlzaGVyPTczMGViODZhYjU5ZjBkNDE5MjZhYzY1YjAxZjgzZTJm" border="0" alt="" width="1" height="1" /></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/10-of-the-worlds-greatest-late-bloomers-2014-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/summer-movie-preview-performances-to-watch-for-2014-47 Amazing Acting Performances To Watch For This Summerhttp://www.businessinsider.com/summer-movie-preview-performances-to-watch-for-2014-4
Fri, 18 Apr 2014 14:17:00 -0400DAVID SIMS
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5339963b6bb3f7d04d849e3b-765-573/million-dollar-arm-jon-hamm-1.png" border="0" alt="Million Dollar Arm Jon Hamm" /></p><p>The summer blockbuster season is not usually a bonanza of great acting, but there's star reputations that need to be proven, breakout supporting character actors to look out for, and maybe even potential Oscar candidates in the mix among all the special effects and wacky comedies.</p>
<p>Our summer movie preview continues today with some of the most interesting acting turns to look out for, be it from a business perspective or an awards perspective.</p>
<h3><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/summer-movie-preview-performances-to-watch-for-2014-4#emily-blunt-edge-of-tomorrow-1">Summer movies and actors to watch for &gt;</a></h3><h3>Emily Blunt, "Edge of Tomorrow"</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/534d53bdecad044e766481ef-400-300/emily-blunt-edge-of-tomorrow.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><strong>Director:&nbsp;</strong>Doug Liman</p>
<p><strong>Starring:&nbsp;</strong>Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Jeremy Piven, Lara Pulver, Charlotte Riley &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>Edge of Tomorrow</em>&nbsp;is yet another Tom Cruise project with a solid enough concept that seems to lack soul (see also:&nbsp;<em>Oblivion</em>). It's&nbsp;<em>Groundhog Day</em>, but with a space war versus aliens! Humans weird metal exoskeletons, battling some unknown force, with Cruise playing a soldier who gets caught in a time loop on his last day alive. Still with us?</p>
<p>Well, from the trailers, Emily Blunt seems like the most interesting aspect by far. After breaking out in&nbsp;<em>The Devil Wears Prada</em>, she's been handed a bunch of uninspired roles, and&nbsp;<em>Edge of Tomorrow&nbsp;</em>might be another throwaway supporting part that doesn't match up to her obvious talent. But as a bad-ass warrior who went through what Cruise's character experienced and helps train him into the ultimate weapon, Blunt might finally be able to have some fun.</p>
<p><strong>Release Date:&nbsp;</strong>June 6</p>
<p><iframe width="620" height="360" frameborder="0" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/yUmSVcttXnI"></iframe></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Jon Hamm, "Million Dollar Arm"</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/534d5496ecad04f0736481f4-400-300/jon-hamm-million-dollar-arm.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><strong>Director:&nbsp;</strong>Craig Gillespie</p>
<p><strong>Starring:&nbsp;</strong>Jon Hamm, Bill Paxton (again!?), Lake Bell, Alan Arkin, Aasif Mandvi, Tzi Ma</p>
<p>Let's be honest:&nbsp;<em>Million Dollar Arm&nbsp;</em>does not look like it's re-inventing the wheel. Despite its somewhat interesting director (Gillespie also made&nbsp;<em>Lars and the Real Girl</em>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<em>Fright Night&nbsp;</em>remake), and writer (Thomas McCarthy of&nbsp;<em>The Station Agent&nbsp;</em>and others) this PG-rated, Disney-produced real-life story of a baseball agent who goes to India in search of hot pitchers is your classic softball culture-clash tale, likely to be loaded with jokes about cricket and spicy food.</p>
<p>But it's important to know that this is the first time Jon Hamm<strong>&nbsp;</strong>is opening a movie by his lonesome. Yes, he received high billing in&nbsp;<em>The Town</em>, but this is Hamm as movie star. Will his natural charisma be on display, and will it make a difference? I can't imagine expectations for&nbsp;<em>Million Dollar Arm&nbsp;</em>are sky-high, box-office wise, but Disney will be hoping for a higher take than&nbsp;<em>Draft Day&nbsp;</em>could scrounge up this weekend.</p>
<p><strong>Release Date:&nbsp;</strong>May 16</p>
<p><iframe width="620" height="360" frameborder="0" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/EiC8o7i_ZqE"></iframe></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Ansel Elgort, "The Fault in Our Stars"</h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/534d57146bb3f723666bbaa8-400-300/ansel-elgort-the-fault-in-our-stars.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><strong>Director:&nbsp;</strong>Josh Boone</p>
<p><strong>Starring:&nbsp;</strong>Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff, Laura Dern, Sam Trammell, Mike Birbiglia, Willem Dafoe, Cancer</p>
<p>Who is Ansel Elgort? Right now, he's just someone with the name of a&nbsp;<em>Game of Thrones&nbsp;</em>character. He was in the&nbsp;<em>Carrie&nbsp;</em>remake last year, but no one saw&nbsp;<em>Carrie</em>, so let's forget about that for now. He's sure handsome, I suppose, in a boyish sort of way.</p>
<p>Most importantly, he's the star of this buzzy adaptation of a young adult novel that is sure to have teens weeping in the aisles this Sunday. It's about cancer and romance and it's based on a book that some of my friends talk about in hushed tones. So even if I'm a little skeptical, if the film really hits, Elgort could conceivably reach "next big thing" status. Maybe.</p>
<p><strong>Release Date:&nbsp;</strong>June 6</p>
<p><iframe width="620" height="360" frameborder="0" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/9ItBvH5J6ss"></iframe></p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/summer-movie-preview-performances-to-watch-for-2014-4#seth-macfarlane-a-million-ways-to-die-in-the-west-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/why-sports-movies-are-box-office-underdogs-2014-4How Sports Movies Have Become Their Own Underdog Success Storieshttp://www.businessinsider.com/why-sports-movies-are-box-office-underdogs-2014-4
Tue, 15 Apr 2014 12:04:00 -0400Lucas Shaw and Todd Cunningham
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/534d4b8d6da8116e0c7b5263-480-/million-dollar-arm-jon-hamm-2.png" border="0" alt="Million Dollar Arm Jon Hamm" width="480" /></p><p>There's a good reason why studios keep making sports movies like &ldquo;Draft Day&rdquo; and &ldquo;Million Dollar Arm&rdquo; despite growing odds against their box-office success: Hollywood loves them.</p>
<p>Once a popular staple at the box office, they have become underdogs in an increasingly international business where American sports don't always travel. But that hasn't stopped Hollywood from making sports movies &mdash; or trying to score another box office or critical success like &ldquo;The Blind Side&rdquo; or &ldquo;Moneyball.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Five sports movies are on this year's calendar, beginning with Summit Entertainment's &ldquo;Draft Day,&rdquo; which&nbsp;<a href="http://www.thewrap.com/captain-america-holds-off-rio-two" target="_blank">opened with a disappointing $9.7 million over the weekend</a>. Freestyle Releasing opens the golf movie &ldquo;From the Rough&rdquo; later this month, Disney's &ldquo;Million Dollar Arm&rdquo; and Sony's &ldquo;When the Game Stands Tall&rdquo; will open during the crowded summer season, with Disney's Kevin Costner track saga &ldquo;McFarland&rdquo; set for November.</p>
<p><strong>Also read:</strong>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.thewrap.com/summer-movies-nine-burning-box-office-questions-will-channing-tatum-flop">9 Burning Summer Movie Questions: Will Channing Tatum Save the Wachowskis? Did Time Off Hurt Angelina Jolie?</a></p>
<p>Sean Bailey, Disney's president of production, said the studio is feeling good about &ldquo;Million Dollar Arm&rdquo; and &ldquo;McFarland.&rdquo; Regardless whether the studio manages to strike &ldquo;lightning in a bottle&rdquo; as Warner Bros. did with &ldquo;The Blind Side,&rdquo; he expressed satisfaction with the way they turned out.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Themes of inspiration and courage, that's also meaningful to us,&rdquo; Bailey said. &ldquo;Obviously we want to succeed financially, but it's also meaningful to us at Disney to put movies out there with themes and ideas at their core.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Disney's &ldquo;Million Dollar Arm,&rdquo; starring Jon Hamm, is ostensibly about baseball, but won't feature a single baseball game. Instead, it dramatizes the true story of a baseball scout traveling to India to recruit cricket players &mdash; an international component that's a bonus in today's box office arena.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I wouldn't say there was a calculated effort to change the nature of narrative to adjust to changing business climate,&rdquo; Bailey said. &ldquo;The world is just changing. JB Bernstein went to India because the Yao Ming phenomenon had happened.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>&nbsp;Also read:</strong>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.thewrap.com/indie-summer-movies-to-see-daniel-radcliffe-mark-ruffalo">8 Under-the-Radar Summer Movies We're Excited to See</a></p>
<p>Because even domestic hits like &ldquo;Moneyball&rdquo; didn't play strongly overseas, there's extra pressure to have a story line compelling enough to convince backers that a project can appeal to non-fans. As a result, budgets have shrunk.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We are looking at the numbers for these movies pretty hard, and we don't have the cushion that may have been there in the past,&rdquo; Bailey conceded.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It's more difficult to make any movie now, but sports movies are as difficult as they come because they are hard to travel with,&rdquo; Erica Huggins, president of Imagine Entertainment, told<a href="http://www.thewrap.com/">TheWrap</a>.</p>
<p>Yet Imagine has been one of the most frequent producers of the genre, making &ldquo;Friday Night Lights,&rdquo; &ldquo;Cinderella Man&rdquo; and &ldquo;Rush,&rdquo; with several more on the way &mdash; including a biopic of Brazilian soccer icon Pele.</p>
<p>&ldquo;If done well, sports movies tell us something about our time and culture,&rdquo; Imagine production president Kim Roth explained.</p>
<p><strong>See photos:&nbsp;</strong><a href="http://www.thewrap.com/summer-movie-preview-gallery-godzilla-spider-man-x-men">49 Summer Movies on Our Radar: From &lsquo;Amazing Spider-Man&rsquo; to Tina Fey's Next Comedy</a></p>
<p>Sports movies, which date all the way back to the Charlie Chaplin era, have gradually lost their luster in the past decade. &ldquo;A League of Their Own,&rdquo; released in 1992, is still the top grossing baseball movie domestically with $107.5 million. Movies like Legendary Pictures'&nbsp;&rdquo;42,&rdquo; a sleeper hit in the U.S. last year, did not get an international release.<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/534d4c1869beddf848106b0c-480-320/sports-movies-box-office-baseball.jpg" border="0" alt="sports movies box office baseball" /></p>
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/534d4c416bb3f7803b6bbab1-480-320/sportsmovies_football-480x320_3_1.jpg" border="0" alt="Sports Movies Football Box Office" /></p>
<p>Nine of the ten highest-grossing football movies opened between 1998 and 2006. &ldquo;The Blind Side,&rdquo; which has grossed nearly $310 million worldwide, is the one exception, and it exemplifies Hollywood's increasingly important formula for sports movies: Heavy on emotion, light on the games.</p>
<p>Based on Michael Lewis&rsquo; book about Michael Oher and the growing importance of the outside tackle-position in football, the movie emphasized the personal relationship between Oher and his adoptive family. Of course, having an A-list star like Sandra Bullock didn't hurt either &mdash; and she won an Oscar for her performance.</p>
<p>Successful sports movies often play up the personal side, whether it is Billy Beane's family in &ldquo;Moneyball&rdquo; (another Lewis book) or the personal travails of Jake LaMotta in &ldquo;Raging Bull.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The inspirational tone has become more critical today, since the primary demographic for most sports films &mdash; young people, and males in particular &mdash; have become distracted by video games, 24-hour sports cable sports and other digital entertainment options. Sports comedies, like Charlie Sheen's &ldquo;Major League&rdquo; in 1989, have fallen out of favor.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Sports movies, especially comedies, used to be the one of the best forms of fun for males under 25,&rdquo; said Mandalay Pictures executive David Zelon, who produced 2011's &ldquo;Soul Surfer,&rdquo; the highest-grossing live-action surf movie ever. He's also producing &ldquo;The Game Stands Tall,&rdquo; the story of the championship DeLaSalle High football team that Sony will release in August.</p>
<p><strong>Also read:&nbsp;</strong><a href="http://www.thewrap.com/21-summer-films-dying-to-see-transformers-4-godzilla-spider-man-2">21 Summer Movies We're Dying to See &ndash; From &lsquo;Transformers 4' to &lsquo;Godzilla&rsquo;</a></p>
<p>&ldquo;Now you're competing with Madden Football and Facebook,&rdquo; Zelon said. &ldquo;There are so many other things pulling away their interest that are cheaper and easier now.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Still, Hollywood keeps churning them out because, as one executive said, &ldquo;a lot of people who work in this business have a sports movie in their top five.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Like &ldquo;Draft Day&rdquo; before it, &ldquo;Million Dollar Arm&rdquo; and &ldquo;The Game Stands Tall&rdquo; will open against movies that cost more than $100 million to make. Underdogs to the end.</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/534d4c90ecad04215b6481f7-480-320/sportsmovies_480x320_3boxing.jpg" border="0" alt="Sports Movies Boxing Box Office" /></p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/534d4cb56da811860c7b5266-480-320/sportsmovies_480x320_3_basketball.jpg" border="0" alt="Sports Movies Basketball Box Office" /></p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/534d4cd669beddce51106b02-480-320/sportsmovies_480x320_3_5olympics.jpg" border="0" alt="Sports Movies olympics" /></p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/534d4cf86bb3f787436bbaa9-480-320/sportsmovies_480x320_3_golf.jpg" border="0" alt="Sports Movies Golf" /></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/million-dollar-arm-test-screening-2014-3" >Disney Exec Says 'Million Dollar Arm' Audience Test Was Best In Years</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-sports-movies-are-box-office-underdogs-2014-4#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p>